How will Iran respond to Israel’s attack on its Damascus consulate?

Analysts say Iran faces pressure to respond to Israel assassinating a senior commander, but what are Tehran’s options?

Iran has vowed retaliation for an Israeli attack on its consulate in Damascus last Monday.

The strike was part of a pattern of escalated Israeli attacks in Syria since the eruption of the Gaza war last October. These attacks have often targeted warehouses, trucks, and airports, and Israel’s declared aim for them is degrading Iran’s transnational supply network for the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Monday’s attack was different, however, in that it struck a diplomatic facility – directly challenging Iran’s sovereignty – and killed senior leaders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The most high-profile casualty was Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a veteran commander who led the IRGC foreign operations wing, the Quds Force, in Syria and Lebanon.

How will Iran respond? As it turns out, Tehran has a lot of options – but none of them are very good.