[5][1][6] Sixteen people were killed in the strike, including eight officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and two Syrian civilians.

Additionally, it has been involved in training and funding paramilitary forces from Hezbollah, along with foreign militias from Iraq and Afghanistan, not only in Syria but also in neighboring Lebanon.

[14] Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah assets within the country.

[26] Analysts opined that the Iranian officers likely felt protected by international norms that prohibit attacks against diplomatic missions.

[25] Sources suggest that the Iranian officers were discussing "operational logistics and coordination",[25] or may have been meeting with members from Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

[38] Sixteen were killed in total, including seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers, five Iran-backed militiamen, one Hezbollah fighter, one Iranian advisor, and two civilians (a Syrian woman and her child).

[3][4] In addition to Zahedi, casualties included Zahedi's deputy Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi and five Iranian officials: Hossein Aman Elahi, Sayid Mehdi Jalalati, Ali Agha Babaei, Sayid Ali Salehi Roozbahani, and Mohsen Sedaghat.

"[41] Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the Chatham House think tank, stated that the Damascus attack and the "breach" of the Vienna convention was "the straw that broke the camel's back.

[43][44] A UN-commissioned panel of experts on international law consisting of Ben Saul, Morris Tidball-Binz, Javaid Rehman, Livingstone Sewanyana, and Cecilia M. Bailliet wrote that Israel had provided no legal justification for the attack, and had failed to report it to the United Nations Security Council.

[44] Official entities from many countries condemned the attack and considered it a violation of the international laws, including the Prime Minister of Iraq,[48] the Prime Minister of Spain,[49] the President of Nicaragua,[50] and the foreign ministries of Afghanistan,[51] Algeria,[52] Armenia,[53] Brazil,[54] Belarus,[55] China,[56] Cuba,[57] Egypt,[58] Indonesia,[59] Jordan,[citation needed] Italy,[60] Kazakhstan,[61] Kuwait,[62] Lebanon,[63] Libya,[64] Malaysia,[59] Maldives,[65] Mauritania,[66] Norway,[67][68] Oman,[69] Pakistan,[70] Qatar,[71] Russia[72] (which called it a "political killing"[73]), Saudi Arabia,[74] South Africa,[75] Sierra Leone,[47] Tajikistan,[76] Tunisia,[77][78] Turkey,[79] United Arab Emirates,[80] Uzbekistan,[81] Venezuela,[82] Vietnam,[83] as well as the Spokesperson for Yemen's Ansar Allah.

[87][88][89] During the briefing in the United Nations Security Council, the representatives of many countries (such as Ecuador, Guyana, Slovenia, South Korea, and Switzerland) noted that any attack on diplomatic and consular premises violates the Charter of the United Nations as well as the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

[99][100] Seven Israeli embassies were evacuated in response to the potential threat of an Iranian retaliatory attack, after Iran publicly blamed Israel and vowed retaliation.

[101] The IDF deployed GPS jamming systems within Tel Aviv to safeguard against potential aerial attacks by Iran.

[103] In several cities across Iran, including the capital, Tehran, as well as Tabriz and Isfahan, large crowds of protesters gathered waving Palestinian and Iranian flags and demanding revenge.

[113][114] That same day, the IRGC Navy boarded and seized Portuguese container ship MSC Aries in the Strait of Hormuz via helicopter, claiming it as "linked to Israel"[115] and "violating maritime laws".

[116] On 18 April 16 shipping associations sent a joint letter to the United Nations requesting every effort to release the captive crew of MSC Aries, and for "enhanced military presence, missions and patrols in the region to protect seafarers",[117]