- A suspected Israeli strike has destroyed the Iranian consulate building in Syria's capital, Damascus, Syrian state media report
- Photos show smoke and dust rising from the flattened multi-storey structure in the west of the city
- A senior Revolutionary Guards commander Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi is among the dead, Iranian state media says
- The Israeli military says it does not comment on foreign media reports
- The Syrian defence ministry said Israeli aircraft targeted the consulate building at about 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT)
Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi was an important figure in the Quds Force, the overseas branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
He joined the IRGC 44 years ago and quickly rose to a top rank. He served as the commander of the Syria and Lebanon operation of the IRGC from 2008 to 2016, during which his forces fought in support of President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war.
Iranian media have been sharing a picture of him with Imad Mughniyeh, the number two in Hezbollah's leadership who was assassinated in a car bomb in 2008.
Iran has blamed Israel for Zahedi’s death, in a sign of escalating tensions between the two countries.
In a phone call with his Syrian counterpart, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian condemned the strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
He said Israel had “violated all its international commitments and conventions” and that it would be held responsible for such “criminal actions”.
Iranian foreign ministry's website quoted Abdollahian saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had "completely lost his mental balance" after "repeated defeats in Gaza".
Hossein Akbari, Iran’s Ambassador to Damascus, said that the attack on the Iranian consulate showed “Israel did not recognize any international laws and was ready take any kind of inhumane action to achieve its goals”.