Israeli strike on Iran consulate: America denies role

Officials stated Tuesday that the United States had no participation in an Israeli bombing on Iran’s consular annex building in the Syrian capital Damascus and had not been warned of it beforehand.

Tehran has pledged to react for the strike, which killed more than a dozen people, including senior Revolutionary Guards officers, while Israel has declined to comment.

“We had nothing to do with the Damascus strike; we were not involved in any way,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing.

Kirby denounced as “nonsense” statements by Iran’s foreign minister that the US, Israel’s biggest supporter, was to blame for the attack.

Sabrina Singh, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary, also stated that Washington’s forces had no role in the strike, which the US transmitted to Tehran through private channels.

“We were not notified by the Israelis about their strike or the intended target of their strike in Damascus,” Singh was quoted as saying. “We’ve made it very clear in private channels to Iran that we were not responsible for the strike.”

According to Iranian official media, the Monday strike killed 13 people, including seven Revolutionary Guards personnel and six Syrian nationals.

According to the Guards, the dead included two top commanders, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi.

Singh stated that Washington believes key Revolutionary Guards leaders were slain, but has been unable to independently corroborate their identities.