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. "Last night (Tuesday), the IDF struck a senior commander in the emergency headquarters 'Khatam al-Anbiya' of the Iranian terror regime," an Israeli military 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".
Judaism is one of Iran's legally recognised minority religions, and 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.
