We are pausing our live coverage of the attack in Syria which killed a senior Iranian commander and is being blamed on Israel.

Doug Faulkner, Nadia Ragozhina, Tiffany Wertheimer, Johanna Chisholm, James Gregory, Gabriella Pomeroy, Fiona Nimoni and Patrick Jackson brought you all the latest developments over the past few hours.

Image source, Getty Images

In the Iranian capital, Tehran, protesters have taken to the streets to condemn the strike on their consulate in Damascus.

"We know that this act is done out of desperation and the regime [Israeli government] is in a serious predicament and is caught in an internal crisis and the war in Gaza," said demonstrator Mohammad Razavi to Reuters news agency.

"It is natural that, in line with the crisis-solving strategy, it tries to transfer the crisis from the inside to the outside to free itself a little, so this rude action can make it easier for them.

Another protester, a woman called Kosar Adhami, said: "The embassy is considered part of a country's territory. There should definitely be a firm response to this action. For us to sit quietly is not the right thing to do at all because [Israel] would dare to target more positions and may tell itself why not Tehran next time?

"Fitting revenge must be taken."

Image source, Getty Images

Here is the latest on what we know about Monday's strike on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus, Syria:

• A strike destroyed the Iranian consulate building in Syria's capital, Damascus, at about 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT)

• Iran has blamed Israel for the attack, in a sign of escalating tensions between the two countries
• Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps says seven of its members were killed in the strike and commander Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi was among the dead
• Iran reserves the right to carry out reciprocal actions against the "aggressors" behind today's attack in Damascus, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson has said
• The Israeli military has said it doesn’t comment on foreign media reports
• A White House spokeswoman said US President Joe Biden was aware of the reports

Iran: The foreign ministry spokesperson said the country reserved the right to carry out reciprocal actions against the "aggressors" behind the attack in Damascus

Israel: The military said it would not comment on foreign media reports

Syria: Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad strongly condemned "this heinous terrorist attack", adding that it had killed "a number of innocent people"

Lebanon: Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group based in Lebanon, warned of "punishment and revenge" over Monday's strike

United States: A White House spokesperson told reporters that the US did not currently have "confirmation of either the target or the responsible party"

Earlier we cited reports that three foreign aid workers and their Palestinian driver had been killed after a reported Israeli air strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza.

We can now clarify that, according to the director of the Hamas-run media office in Gaza, four foreign aid workers and their Palestinian driver were killed.

This is a breaking and developing news story. We will bring you all the latest details as they emerge.

Returning to Damascus now - here are some pictures from the scene, taken earlier on Monday.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Gett

World Central Kitchen has posted on X about the reports that three of its aid workers have been killed in the Gaza Strip.

"This is a tragedy," the US-based charity wrote.

"Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER."

We have some breaking news out of the Gaza Strip, where three foreign aid workers and their Palestinian driver have been killed in the city of Deir al-Balah, Palestinian health workers have said.

A medical source at al-Aqsa Hospital told the BBC that the bodies of four people wearing bullet-proof vests bearing the logo of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) arrived at the hospital after their car was hit by an air strike.

The IDF has said in a statement that it is "conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.

"The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza."

The BBC has contacted the World Central Kitchen.

The charity recently made headlines for providing hundreds of tonnes of food for Gazans that arrived on the first aid ship.

The IDF has been accused of blocking food aid in the past - last month, a different charity, the World Food Programme said its convoy of 14 lorries was "turned back" at a checkpoint and was later looted by crowds of "desperate people".

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Iran is saying Mohammed Reza Zahedi was killed in what it describes as an Israeli airstrike that targeted the country’s consulate in Damascus.

Videos posted online show a building flattened by a big explosion in the Mezzeh district of Damascus.

The attack is a significant escalation, as this senior commander is one of the most high-profile Iranian figures believed to have been killed by Israel in the country’s long campaign of targeted assassinations.

There hasn’t been any reaction from Israel. Iran has vowed to give a "decisive response".

We are getting further reports on the number of people killed in the air strike in Damascus.

Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria, tells AFP news agency: "The death toll from the Israeli strikes on the Iranian embassy annex has risen to 11: Eight Iranians, two Syrians and one Lebanese - all of them fighters, none of them civilians."

The observatory reported earlier that at least eight people had been killed. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has confirmed seven of its members were killed when its consulate was destroyed earlier on Monday.

A resident who lives near to where the explosion was, Omm Ismail, described the explosion:

"It was a strong strike. We felt the building was going to fall.

We live in Dar Al-Saeed and we felt like it was inside our house. It was very strong."

Iran's response is likely to be calibratedpublished at 22:27 British Summer Time 1 April

22:27 BST 1 April

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor, in northern Israel

All the signs are that this was carried out by Israel. Very few states have the capacity to mount a precision attack like this but Israel has top military technology, the most modern kind of aircraft.

Let’s work on the basis it was Israel. So what sort of retaliation might we see?

One of Iran’s options would include getting Hezbollah, their ally in Lebanon, to mount an attack on the Israelis. Since the 7 October there has been a shadow war taking place in the north of Israel, and over the border into southern Lebanon, where tens of thousands of civilians on both sides have been forced to flee the area as the two sides have shelled homes, schools and businesses as well as military targets.

We could see Hezbollah trying to carry out some kind of military attack. They have been working within what’s known as the rules of the game. Might they try and break out of that and escalate a few levels?

One expert suggested to me that perhaps Iran would mount a cyber-attack.

The Iranians will want to show that they are not deterred by Israel, but any response might not be immediate or straightforward – and is likely to be calibrated, reflecting Iran’s reluctance to get involved in an all-out war.

Videos show the damage in the upmarket district of Mezzeh in Damascus, after a suspected Israeli strike destroyed the Iranian consulate building.

Here's a look at what's been happening in the last few hours:

• A suspected Israeli strike has destroyed the Iranian consulate building in Syria's capital, Damascus, Syrian state media report
• Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps says seven of its members were killed in the strike

• Senior Revolutionary Guards commander Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi was among the dead, according the IRGC statement
• Iran has blamed Israel for Zahedi’s death, in a sign of escalating tensions between the two countries
• The Israeli military has said it doesn’t comment on foreign media reports
• The White House has confirmed that President Joe Biden is “aware” of reports but a WH spokesperson told reporters that the US didn't have "confirmation of either the target or the responsible party"
• Iran reserves the right to carry out reciprocal actions against the "aggressors" behind today's attack in Damascus, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson has said

Image source, Reuters

This could go one of two wayspublished at 21:23 British Summer Time 1 April

21:23 BST 1 April

Frank Gardner
Security Correspondent

When we look at previous actions similar to this one, Iran’s response is likely to go one of two ways: escalation or de-escalation.

In January 2020, in one of his last acts in office, President Trump ordered the assassination by drone of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Force (IRGC) Quds Force.

At the time it was seen as a dramatic escalation in the simmering conflict between Iran’s proxies in the region and the US and its allies. Some analysts predicted a catastrophic Iranian response, even a regional war. But in the end it turned out to have a chilling effect on the IRGC’s operations, removing its most dangerous and militarily competent operative in the Middle East.

There have been other instances too when a dramatic escalation has led to de-escalation, such as when US President Reagan ordered the bombing of Colonel Gaddafi’s headquarters in Libya in 1986.

The West too, has ended up pulling out of a conflict zone after suffering a major attack, which is what happened following the bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut by Iran-backed Hezbollah in 1983.

It’s hard to gauge what the long-term effect of Monday’s attack in Damascus will be, but Iran will most likely take its time to respond and quite possibly strike back in unexpected ways.

Image source, Getty Images

As we mentioned before, the US has a team that's been tasked with "looking into" today's attack in Syria, and those views were reiterated by the US State Department earlier.

"We are in conversations with partners in the region, gathering more information," says US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller while speaking at a press briefing in Washington.

Miller emphasises that the US, at this point, doesn't have "confirmation either of the target or the responsible party" in the attack.

Speaking about the potential repercussions in the region from today's airstrike, he adds that, with respect to the ongoing hostage talks, he sees "no reason why this incident should have any impact" on them.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) was set up 40 years ago to defend the country's Islamic system, and to provide a counterweight to the regular armed forces.

It has since become a major military, political and economic force in its home country, with close ties to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and many other senior figures.

The IRGC is estimated to have more than 190,000 active personnel, boasts its own ground forces, navy and air force, and oversees Iran's strategic weapons.

It also exerts influence in the wider Middle East by providing money, weapons, technology, training and advice to allied governments and armed groups through its shadowy overseas operations arm, the Quds (Jerusalem) Force.

The UK Government has previously said it has sanctioned the group “in its entirety”. And the US has gone further, designating it a foreign terrorist organisation.

The IRGC has been present in Syria for years, but in February, Reuters reported that the Iranian group had scaled back deployment of senior officers from the country following Israeli strikes.

Image source, AFP

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says seven of its members died in the strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Senior commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and his deputy General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi were among those killed, the group said in a statement.

The IRGC has strongly condemned the attack.

Image source, Wikimedia

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

The attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus is a reminder that the war in the Middle East is not confined to Gaza.

And that is because this conflict does not just involve Israel and Hamas.

There has also been fighting between Israeli forces and other armed groups in the region which – like Hamas – are backed by Iran.

For many months there have been sustained exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, the political militia movement based in Lebanon.

Hezbollah - which is backed, armed and guided by Iran - says it is attacking Israel to support Hamas.

Israel has also launched airstrikes against pro-Iranian proxy groups and other targets in Syria, often to disrupt flows of weapons to Hezbollah.

In other words, this conflict has to be seen as part of the wider confrontation between Israel and Iran.

So if this attack on a senior Iranian commander in Damascus is confirmed to have been launched by Israel, then it would mark an escalation of that broader conflict and will raise fresh fears of a devastating regional war.

As you would imagine this is a developing situation and there are some differing figures on the number killed in the strike.

Iran's ambassador to Syria says at least five people have been killed in the strike on the consulate building in Damascus, while the UK-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says eight people have been killed.

Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi is among the dead, according to Iranian state TV, while the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated to the IRGC, reports his aide, Mohammad Hadi Haji-Rahimi, is also dead.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria, reported the eight people killed included a high-ranking leader of the Quds Force, two Iranian advisers and five members of the Revolutionary Guards.