Iran vowed revenge against Israel on Tuesday after a bombing of the Iranian diplomatic mission in the Syrian capital Damascus, killing two Iranian generals and five officers. Although Israel has not confirmed this, it is widely believed that Israel was responsible for the attack. Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria in recent years. It usually then refrains from commenting.
Iran considers Monday’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus a “violation of international conventions.” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s Foreign Minister, considers Israel responsible for the airstrike and calls on the international community to come up with a “serious response.”
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also made no bones about it. “We will ensure that they repent of this crime and similar acts,” he stated.
The consulate, an annex of the Iranian embassy, has been largely destroyed, according to Syrian and Iranian media. The airstrike reportedly killed a total of eight people, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Although the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas has also led to increased tensions between Israel and Iran and its allies in the past six months, Iran has so far given the impression that it does not want to be directly involved in an escalation of hostilities. The attack in Damascus could change that.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Tehran has the right to respond. The Iranian government would still have to make a decision on what that response would be. Israel, as usual, has not responded to the accusations from Iran. But a senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confided to the Reuters news agency that the attack targeted people who had been involved in actions against Israel and the United States. They are also said to have planned new actions.
Russia called Monday’s attack “unacceptable” and also says Israel is responsible. The Kremlin calls on Israel to stop carrying out attacks on Syrian territory. Like Iran, Russia is an ally of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Both countries kept Assad in power several years ago when his regime faltered in the battle with Islamic rebels.
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