Israel expressed regret for damaging a Tehran synagogue in a strike targeting a senior Iranian commander, as Iran reports the building’s destruction.
JURUSALEM: The Israeli military on Tuesday expressed regret over “collateral damage” to a synagogue in Tehran caused by an overnight strike that it said was targeting a senior Iranian commander.
The military “struck a senior commander in the emergency headquarters ‘Khatam al-Anbiya’ of the Iranian terror regime”, a spokesperson said in response to a question from AFP.
“The IDF regrets the collateral damage to the synagogue and emphasises that the strike was targeted at a senior military target within the regime’s armed forces, not at any place of worship.”
The military said the results of the strike were “under review”, adding that “steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Iran’s Shargh newspaper and Mehr news agency reported that the Rafi-Nia Synagogue in central Tehran had been “completely destroyed”.
Shargh called the synagogue “one of the most important places for Khorasan Jews to gather and celebrate”, referring to the northeastern province of Iran.
Shia Islam is the state religion in Iran, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity are minority faiths and are represented in parliament.
The country has a small Jewish community, although many members fled in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
There are no publicly available official numbers, but there are thought to be a few thousand Jewish people in Iran.