Iran has pledged to retaliate against Israel following an Israeli strike on Monday that destroyed an Iranian consulate building in Damascus, Syria.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared that Israel would “regret this crime”, while President Ebrahim Raisi affirmed that it would “not go unanswered.”

According to Iranian state TV, the strike resulted in the deaths of seven Revolutionary Guards, including two generals, and six Syrians.

The Israeli military declined to comment on foreign media reports, but a senior Israeli government official told Reuters that those killed had been “behind many attacks on Israeli and American assets and had plans for additional attacks.” The official also asserted that the consulate “was not a target.”

President Raisi stated that the Revolutionary Guards commanders were in Syria “as senior advisers in defending the holy shrine,” likely referring to a revered site believed to house the tomb of Sayyida Zeinab.

Raisi added, “The Zionist regime [Israel] has put blind assassinations back on its agenda to save itself. It must know that it will never achieve its goals, and this cowardly crime will not go unanswered.”

Ayatollah Khamenei later vowed to avenge the deaths of the Revolutionary Guards, describing it as a “heavy loss” for Iran.

“The evil regime will be punished by the hands of our brave men. We will make them regret this crime and others like it,” Ayatollah Khamenei declared.