Thousands of Iranians on Friday demonstrated against the actions of Israel as a funeral procession took place for members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps killed by an airstrike in Syria.

Two brigadier generals and five other members of the powerful Iranian army unit died on Monday in the attack on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The Iranian foreign ministry assumes Israel carried out the strike, and the U.S. government also believes Israel was responsible.

However, Israel has not commented on the incident, but an Iranian military response is now widely expected.

Friday’s protests were accompanied by calls for retribution and were held on Al-Quds Day, which traditionally brings out hundreds of thousands of government supporters.

Iran, which has long called for Israel to be wiped out, has been especially enraged by the Jewish state’s bombardment of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also described Iran as the country’s most significant enemy.

(dpa/NAN)