Iran accuses Israel of killing spy chief in missile attack on Damascus

The president of Iran has vowed to take revenge after blaming Israel for an airstrike that killed an Iranian intelligence chief on Saturday, as tensions across the region continue to escalate over the war in Gaza.

The Syrian army said a building in the tightly-guarded western Damascus area of Mazzeh, used by the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, was destroyed, killing three senior commanders and two others.

Among those killed was Gen Sadegh Omidzadeh, the intelligence deputy of the guard’s expeditionary Quds Force in Syria, according to Nour News, which is believed to be close to the country’s intelligence apparatus. His deputy, who goes by the nom de guerre Hajj Gholam was also killed.

Dramatic video shows a towering column of smoke rising above Damascus following the airstrike which has been blamed on Israel

An unspecified number of Syrian troops were also dead, it was reported.

Following the attack, which Israel has not commented on, missiles were then launched at US forces based in Iraq by Iran-backed militants in the country, according to the US Central Command.

A number of US military personnel suffered minor injuries and a member of Iraq’s security forces was also wounded in the airstrikes on Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq on Saturday.

The US Central Command said attacks were launched with ballistic missiles and rockets. While most were intercepted some evaded the air defence and struck the base that had a number of US soldiers.

It said an unspecified number of personnel are “undergoing evaluation for traumatic brain injuries”.

The strike on the base in Iraq was claimed by a newly-formed group Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The group is made up of several Iran-affiliated armed groups operating in Iraq after