Escalation in the middle -east As tensions escalate in proxy zones in the Israel-Hamas conflict, six people have been killed in a Monday bomb strike that completely leveled the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, with Tehran accusing Israel of being behind the strike.
According to Agence France Press (AFP), the air strike hit an Iranian embassy annex building, killing six people.
Syrian and Iranian media are attributing the strike to Israel, with a Lebanese security source telling Reuters that a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) was killed in the strike.
"The Israeli attack targeted the Iranian consulate building in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus,” Syria’s official SANA news agency reported.
Iranian state TV reported Brig-Gen Zahedi, senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards' overseas operations arm, the Quds Force, as among those killed in the attack, along with several diplomats. Israel has not yet officially commented on the accusations, but has targeted Iranian and pro-Iranian groups in Syria and Lebanon repeatedly since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
Last week, the independent human rights group, the Observatory, said that Israeli strikes in Syria had so far killed 53 people, including 38 soldiers and 7 pro-Iranian members of Hezbollah, as reported by AFP.
This attack is likely to represent a significant cause for escalation that could add more volatility to oil prices if a spreading conflict is seen to potentially threaten global supply and demand.
At the time of writing on Monday at 1:10 p.m. ET, shortly after the release of reports on the Iranian consulate attack in Damascus, Brent crude was trading up 1.03% at $87.90, while the U.S. crude benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), was trading up 1.45% at $84.38.