We are investigating a possible intelligence leak in the Damascus strike

Iranian military leaders believed that the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus was a safe place to hold a high-level meeting, after months of repeated Israeli attacks on Syria, in the belief that the embassy was protected under international norms for protecting diplomatic missions, according to more than a dozen officials from Iran and Syria. And the region. But they were wrong.

An air strike on the complex killed seven Iranians on Monday, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

This strike is the boldest in a series of attacks targeting Iranian officials in Syria since December, and it is also the largest in terms of the number of deaths it caused.

The attack, which Tehran blamed on Israel, was a rare military strike on a diplomatic compound anywhere in the world, prompting the United Nations and European Union to quickly issue statements of condemnation.

Analysts believe that the strike constitutes a dangerous escalation in the broader Israeli campaign to undermine the influence that Iran has gained in Syria over the past decade.

Zahedi had arrived in Syria about 24 hours before the attack and was staying in the embassy compound with two other senior commanders, according to another Iranian source who, like the rest of the sources, requested to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The source said that the three leaders were in Syria to discuss operational logistics and coordination work, without giving further details.

Zahedi was a prominent leader in the Quds Force, which directs Iranian support to Tehran’s allies in the region, including Lebanese Hezbollah. He is the highest-ranking commander in the Revolutionary Guard to be killed since the United States assassinated Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad four years ago. The manner in which the embassy incident occurred sent shock waves through the region already troubled by the Israeli war in Gaza.

“In my view, it is unprecedented,” said Gregory Brough, an analyst at Eurasia Group. He added that he does not remember any country directly targeting the diplomatic presence of another country in this way.

He continued: “The Revolutionary Guard officers most likely believed that they were safe as long as they remained in the diplomatic compound… I do not imagine that any Revolutionary Guard officer feels safe currently.”

With Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowing revenge, the consequences of the attack on the embassy carry the risk of further escalation in the conflict that has already been expanding in the Middle East since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip in October.

But Iranian officials indicated that Tehran will not deviate from the approach it has adopted since October, which is to avoid direct conflict with Israel and the United States while supporting its allied groups that strike Israel, American forces, and shipping ships in the Red Sea.

A third Iranian source, a senior official, said that Tehran is forced to take a serious response to deter Israel from repeating such attacks or escalation. But he added that the level of response would be limited and aimed at deterrence, without providing further details.