Four Iranians Reportedly Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Syria's Airbase

The attack comes just a day after the US, the EU, as well as NATO member Turkey, had accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons in Douma, Eastern Ghouta.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned Israeli Air Force's attack on a military airfield in Syria, saying that Tehran believes that the move was aimed at diverting attention from the "tragedy in Gaza."

Earlier in the day, Iran's FARS news agency reported that at least four Iranian nationals had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Syria's N-4 airbase in the country's Homs province.

According to the media outlet, the victims have been identified as Seyed Ammar Moussavi, Medi Lotfi Niyasar, Akbar Zawwar Jannati, and Mehdi Dehqan Yazdeli, who had been called the "defenders of the shrine," the forces that protect the Zeinab Shrine, a Shiite holy site near the Syrian capital.

According to the agency, all three men were natives of Iran's Qom province.

READ MORE: Daesh Tried to Launch Offensive After Missile Attack on Syrian Base — Reports

SANA news agency reported earlier in the day, citing its own correspondent that the Syrian T-4 airbase in the country's Homs province had been attacked by missiles. 

Later in the day, the Russian Foreign Minister said that the missiles had been launched by two Israeli warplanes, while five out of eight strikes, carried out by the Israeli F-15 jets, were destroyed by Syrian air defenses.

So far, the Israeli Defense Forces have also refused to either confirm or deny the statements made by the Russian Defense Ministry about the Israeli Air Force’s involvement in the strikes, with IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus telling Sputnik, "We do not comment on this."