Several people have been killed in an Israeli air strike that flattened the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, according to Iranian state media and Syrian authorities.

Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was among at least five people killed in the attack, Iranian state media reported on Monday.

Iran’s Ambassador Hossein Akbari, who was not injured, said at least five people had been killed in the attack, including three military personnel.

He said that Tehran’s response would be “decisive”.

Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian described the attack “as a violation of all international obligations and conventions” and blamed Israel.

In a separate statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said that Iran “reserves the right to carry out a reaction and will decide on the type of response and the punishment of the aggressor.”

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad denounced the “terrorist attack”.

“We strongly condemn this heinous terrorist attack that targeted the Iranian consulate building in Damascus killing a number of innocent people,” Mekdad said in a statement cited by Syrian state news agency SANA.