Episode Notes:

On Monday, a missile strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus left at least 11 people dead, including senior Quds Force commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his deputy, Haji Rahimi. Israel has yet to claim responsibility for the strike, but Iranian leadership placed the blame squarely on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and said there would be swift retaliation. Here to tell us more about the strike and how this could affect the situation in the Middle East is Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow and the founding director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C.

[:56] The strike in Damascus [2:28] Why is Israel not claiming responsibility? [3:19] Is this a major escalation? [5:44] Iran's likely response [7:14] Israel's past strikes [9:44] How does this affect the war in Gaza?