Iran FM Amirabdollahian opens new Syria consulate after deadly Israeli strike

Iran's foreign minister inaugurated the country's new consulate in Damascus on Monday, a week after a deadly Israeli strike destroyed the former premises, sending regional tensions skyrocketing.

Tehran, a key ally of the Syrian regime, has vowed to avenge last Monday's airstrike on the Iranian embassy's consular section that killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members, including two generals.

The strike came against the backdrop of Israel's brutal war on Gaza, which has so far killed more than 33,200 people in the strip.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian inaugurated the new consular section in a Damascus building in the presence of his Syrian regime counterpart Faisal Mekdad, whom he also met earlier Monday, regime news agency SANA said.

An AFP correspondent at the inauguration said the new consulate was not far from the premises destroyed by the strike in the upscale Mazzeh area, which also houses other foreign embassies and UN offices.

Amirabdollahian was also set to meet Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad, and Syria's pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan said his talks in Damascus would be "mainly focused" on repercussions of last week's strike.

Iran's foreign minister began a regional tour Sunday in Oman, long a mediator between Tehran and the West, where Muscat's foreign minister called for de-escalation.

An adviser to Iran's supreme leader warned on Sunday that Israeli embassies were "no longer safe" after the Damascus attack.

Analysts saw the raid as an escalation of Israel's campaign against Iran and its regional proxies that runs the risk of triggering a wider war beyond the Gaza Strip.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said 16 people were killed in the consulate strike: eight Iranians, five Syrians, one member of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, and two civilians.

Among the dead were generals Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, both senior commanders in the Quds Force, the IRGC's foreign operations arm.

Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria since civil war broke out 13 years ago, targeting Iran-backed forces including Hezbollah as well as Syrian regime army positions and weapons depots.

It rarely comments on individual strikes, but Israel's raids have increased since the Gaza war began.

Tehran backs Palestinian militants Hamas but has denied any direct involvement in the 7 October attack the group led on Israel.