DAMASCUS: Suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s embassy in Syria on Monday, a marked escalation in a war pitting Israel against its regional adversaries, and Tehran said the strike killed seven military advisers including three senior commanders.

Reuters reporters at the site in the Mezzeh district of Damascus saw emergency workers clambering atop rubble of a destroyed building inside the diplomatic compound, adjacent to the main embassy building. Emergency vehicles were parked outside. An Iranian flag hung from a pole by the debris.

The Syrian foreign minister and interior minister were both spotted at the scene. “We strongly condemn this atrocious terrorist attack that targeted the Iranian consulate building in Damascus and killed a number of innocents,” Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said.

Israel has long targeted military installations of its arch enemy Iran and those of its proxies in Syria, and has ramped up those strikes in parallel with its campaign against Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Monday’s attack was the first time Israel hit the vast embassy compound itself.

Israel typically does not discuss attacks by its forces on Syria. Asked about the strike, an Israeli military spokesperson said: “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media”.

Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, who was not injured, told Iranian state TV that five to seven people, including some diplomats, were killed and that Tehran’s response would be “harsh”.