IDF admits Tehran synagogue was 'collateral damage' in strike on Iran commander

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admitted late Tuesday that it was behind a strike early in the day that damaged a synagogue in Tehran, saying it was targeting a senior Iranian commander and that it regretted the "collateral damage" to the Jewish house of worship nearby, Report informs via The Times of Israel.

According to Iranian media, heavy damage was caused to the Rafi Niya synagogue.

In response to a query by The Times of Israel, the IDF said that it struck a top commander from Khatam al-Anbiya, Iran's military emergency command.

"Reports were received that a nearby synagogue was also damaged in the strike. The IDF regrets the collateral damage to the synagogue and emphasizes that the strike was directed at a senior military target within the regime's armed forces," the IDF said.

The army insisted that it took steps to "minimize the risk of harm to civilians" in the strike, "including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance."

The results of the strike are still under review, the military added.

Multiple Iranian news sources reported on the strike that damaged the synagogue. In an internal report, Israel's Diaspora Affairs Ministry said that visual documentation ostensibly from the scene showed rescuers working through piles of rubble and debris, with photographs capturing scattered religious books and damaged interior fixtures. The ministry's internal report noted that the claim the synagogue was damaged is supported "by several sources, albeit all of them Iranian."