Iran threatens Israel after bombing its consulate in Syria: “The evil Zionist regime will be punished”

Iran warned Israel and the United States on Tuesday will answer to the attack that the day before had killed 13 people, including seven members of his Revolutionary Guard in Damascus, in an operation that risks fueling tensions in the Middle East.

The Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that “the evil Zionist regime will be punished” and the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, assured that that “cowardly crime will not go unanswered”.

“Day after day we witness the strengthening of the resistance front and the disgust and hatred of free nations against the illegitimate nature” of Israel, Raisi said.

The Iranian president condemned the “inhuman, aggressive and despicable act of invasion and the flagrant violation of international norms.”

According to him, Israel “has made indiscriminate killings the order of the day” after suffering “repeated defeats and failures against the faith and will of the Resistance Front”, but “must know that it will never achieve its sinister goals by means so inhumane.”

The attack, attributed to Israel, against the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, caused thirteen deaths, seven of whom were Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The attacks included “six missiles fired from F-35 fighter jets,” according to Tehran the first directed against an Iranian diplomatic headquarters in Syria, a country that has been in civil war since 2011 and where Iran and its allies support the government of President Bashar al Assad.

Message to the United States

Iran also sent “an important message to the United States” underlining this Washington “must be held accountable” of the attack, due to his support for Israel.

The message, the contents of which were not revealed, was sent to “an official of the Swiss embassy”, which represents American interests in Iran, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said.

For his part, The United States has assured Iran that it is “not involved” in the attack on the building which housed the consulate and residence of the Iranian ambassador to Syria, according to an American official quoted by the Axios news site.

The UN Security Council has scheduled a public session on the attack for Tuesday, which was requested by the Russian representative to the world body, Dmitri Polianski, quoted by the official TASS news agency.

Iran called on the Security Council to “condemn in the strongest possible terms this terrorist attack perpetrated by the Israeli regime.”

Tehran, which supports the government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, has vowed to respond to the attack.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council met on Monday evening, in the presence of Raisi, and took the “necessary decisions”, it said in a statement, without providing further details.

For its part, the Chinese government condemned the attack on Tuesday, the Chinese diplomatic spokesperson said.

“The security of diplomatic institutions cannot be violated, and Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity must be respected,” Wang Wenbin said.

Europe asks to lower tension

The European Union formulated this on Tuesday an invitation to moderation after the attack attributed to Israel against the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, which left 13 people dead.

“We are alarmed by the alleged Israeli attack on an Iranian diplomatic building in the Syrian capital (…) It is important to show restraint,” said a spokesperson for the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.

In turn, Iraq stressed Tuesday that the attack in Syria could lead “more chaos and instability” in the Middle Eastfearing that the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip will become a regional conflagration.

Iran has repeatedly declared its support for Hamas and accuses Israel of provoking “genocide”, but has denied any direct intervention in the conflict.

Source: AFP