Iran's Supreme Leader took almost a day to respond to the suspected Israeli attack on Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen in Syria. On Tuesday afternoon he announced retaliation: “The Zionist regime will be punished at the hands of our brave men. We will make them regret this and other crimes,” he said. His words raise fears of an escalation in the conflict between Israel and Iran. Until now, Iran had avoided retaliating directly against Israel following Israeli attacks on Iranian targets in Syria.
This time, however, according to Iranian information, the suspected Israeli air strike was aimed at extraterritorial Iranian territory: According to this, a consular building on the embassy grounds in Damascus that housed the ambassador's residence was destroyed. The Supreme National Security Council blamed Iran after an emergency meeting of having committed a “war crime” against “places and people with diplomatic immunity”. “Appropriate decisions” were made at the meeting, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Three generals from the Quds Force responsible for foreign operations were killed on Monday in the most consequential strike against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard since the beginning of the Gaza War. These include the former commander for the Syria and Lebanon area of operations, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and his deputy Mohammad Hadi Haj Rahimi. In a statement, the Guard also named five other people killed who were described as “military advisers.”
Iran assigns co-responsibility to the USA
The Iranian Foreign Ministry attributed joint responsibility for the attack to the United States. As a supporter of Israel, America must be “held accountable,” wrote Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Platform The United States has Swiss consular representation in Iran because it does not have official diplomatic relations with Iran. The Iranian ambassador in Damascus, Hossein Akbari, who according to official reports was unhurt, threatened “revenge”. It is the first time that Israel has “allowed” itself to directly attack the Iranian embassy premises and thereby violate international law. There was talk of an attack on Iranian territory on Iranian state television. The country therefore called for a special session of the UN Security Council.
As is usual in such cases, the Israeli military did not comment directly on the attack. However, sources cited in Israeli media described the destroyed building as a legitimate military target because it was a “command post” of the Revolutionary Guard.
A report in the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that the slain General Zahedi was “one of the highest-ranking and most experienced commanders of the Revolutionary Guard.” As a former commander of the Syria and Lebanon area of operations, he was second in the hierarchy of the Quds Brigade. Previously, as a former commander of the Lebanon Corps, he was responsible for arming the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and opening a second front against Israel. He then set up anti-Israel militias in Syria, had influence on cooperation with the Yemeni Houthi militia and campaigned for arms deliveries to the West Bank.
An attempt by Israel to drag Iran into the Gaza war?
The report mentions numerous buildings in the vicinity of the Iranian embassy in Damascus that were used by the Revolutionary Guard for years as accommodation and operational bases. The Israeli secret service Mossad is said to have a photo that shows General Zahedi, who was killed on Monday, as a member of the inner circle of the Revolutionary Guard and its most important allies. In the photo he can be seen together with Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah, another prominent Lebanese militiaman, former Quds commander Qassem Soleimani and a former commander of the Revolutionary Guard Ahmad Kazemi. Except for Nasrallah, everyone in the photo has now been killed by suspected Israeli or American airstrikes. Iranian media also published photos showing Zahedi with Nasrallah and Soleimani.
Israel repeatedly targets members of the Revolutionary Guard and weapons depots in Syria in order to stop Iranian arms deliveries to Hezbollah. It was only in December that Quds General Razi Mousawi, a subordinate of Zahedi, was killed in Syria. He is said to have been responsible for arms deliveries across Syrian territory. Iran has so far refrained from taking direct retaliatory measures against Israel in order to avoid becoming involved in a war with Israel. Some Iranian politicians warned on Tuesday that the attack was an attempt by Israel to drag Iran into the Gaza war. Parliament speaker Qalibaf, on the other hand, called for “harsh punishment” for Israel. He emphasized that the attack in Damascus took place shortly before Al-Quds Day, on which Iran annually rallies against Israel. This year the day falls on April 5th. It is conceivable that Iran could use this day for retaliatory measures.
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