Tehran:

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdullahian on Monday called on the international community to take action after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus killed a senior Guards commander and others.

According to a statement from the Islamic Republic of Iran, in a phone conversation with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, Amir-Abdullahian “blamed the Zionist regime for the consequences of this action and “Underscoring the need for the international community to respond seriously to such crimes.” Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

State television reported that Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, “one of the senior commanders” of the Quds Force, the overseas operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, “was killed in an attack on the consulate of the Islamic Republic of Iran by Zionist regime militants.” Damascus architecture. “

The 63-year-old joined the Guards more than four decades ago and has held various senior positions.

Amir-Abdullahian said the attack violated all international obligations and conventions.

Iran’s top diplomat added: “Netanyahu has completely lost his mental balance due to the Israeli regime’s successive defeats in Gaza and the failure to achieve the ambitious goals of the Zionists.”

He was referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country has been fighting Iran-backed Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip for nearly six months.

In a separate statement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani “strongly condemned” the attack and said Iran “reserves the right to respond and will determine the type of response and punishment of the aggressor.”

Earlier, Iranian Ambassador to Damascus Hussein Akbari said that “the five-story consulate building was attacked by Israeli F-35 fighter jets and six missiles.” He did not disclose the source of the information about the aircraft.

Akbari vowed a “decisive response” as the attack killed “at least five people, including three military personnel”.

At a nightly rally in Palestine Square in central Tehran on Monday, hundreds of demonstrators waved Iranian and Palestinian flags, called for “revenge” and chanted “Death to America” ​​and “Death to Israel.”

They also burned Israeli and American flags, according to AFP reporters at the scene.

Iran praised Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war, calling it a “success” but denying any direct involvement.

Since then, Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen have launched a series of attacks against Israeli and Western targets.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)