Iran Condemns Israeli Strike On Damascus Security Zone

Iran’s foreign ministry condemned an Israeli rocket strike Sunday on “a residential area” in central Damascus, and the “martyrdom of several civilians.”

An Israeli rocket strike early on Sunday hit a building in central Damascus's Kafr Sousa neighborhood near a large, heavily guarded security complex close to Iranian installations, killing five people, witnesses and officials said.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani condemned the attack, which he likened to recent attacks by ISIS in Syria.

The rare, targeted strike damaged several buildings in the densely populated district close to Omayyad square in the heart of the capital, where multi-story security buildings are located within residential areas.

Iranian media reported 5 people killed and 15 injured, according to an early count. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 15 people were killed in the attack.

An Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment.

Citing a military source, state media said Israel had carried out air strikes targeting several areas in the capital shortly after midnight, causing five deaths and 15 injuries among civilians, and damage to several residential buildings.

"It caused damage to several civilian homes and material damage to a number of neighborhoods in Damascus and its vicinity," the army said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear whether the strike was aimed at a specific individual.

Pro-Iran Hezbollah's top commander Imad Moughniyeh was killed in 2008 in a bombing in Kafr Sousa, a heavily policed area where residents say several Iranian security agencies are located, including a major cultural center.

Israel has been carrying out air strikes against suspected Iranian-sponsored weapons transfers and personnel deployments in next-door Syria since 2017. Iran has expanded its military presence in Syria in recent years and has a foothold in most state-controlled areas, with thousands of members of militias and local paramilitary groups under its command, Western intelligence sources say.