TEHRAN – The Israeli regime on Monday attacked the Consular Section of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus killing at least 7 people including General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps Quds Force.

Iran's Ambassador to Damascus, Hossein Akbari, verified the reports of the Israeli assault and stated that Israeli warplanes had fired six missiles at the consular building.

Ambassador Akbari mentioned that seven individuals lost their lives in the Israeli attack, although the identities and precise number of casualties remain undisclosed.

“This regime has no respect for international law,” the envoy said. “We will support the resistant nation [of Palestine] and have no fear of the criminality of this regime.”

General Zahedi, the highest-ranking official who lost his life during the Israeli attack, was a highly respected military leader in Iran. He held command positions in both the IRGC ground and air forces before leading the elite Quds branch in Syria and Lebanon. Israeli television had identified him as a key figure on the regime's list of assassination targets on multiple occasions.

General Hossein Aminallah, Chief of Staff of the IRGC Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, and Brigadier General Haj Rahimi, a close friend and deputy of Zahedi, were also assassinated.

‘Netanyahu has gone mad’

During a phone call with his Syrian counterpart, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to have “lost sanity” due to his consecutive failures following the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation.

“The attack on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus was a violation of all international commitments and conventions, making the Zionist regime responsible for the consequences of this act,” the top Iranian diplomat told Faisal Mekdad.

Under international law, attacking another country's embassy is considered a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The Convention provides that embassies are inviolable and must be protected from intrusion or damage. Attacking Iran’s embassy on Syrian soil is a serious breach of international law and must thus be followed by diplomatic consequences, sanctions, or other forms of retaliation.

While the U.S. and other Western states have not hesitated to slam resistance forces in the past six months for attacking Israeli positions, it is expected that these governments once again turn a blind eye to yet another dangerous escalation of the Israeli regime, which is unprecedented in its nature.

Why did Israel attack Iran’s consulate?

Israel has targeted multiple IRGC and resistance members in the past few months as it continues to struggle to defeat Palestinian fighters inside Gaza.

The regime targeted Iranian adviser General Seyed Razi Mousavi in Syria last year. Several senior members of Hezbollah and Hamas have also been assassinated since October 7. 

Israel’s assassinations are not expected to hinder resistance and they are in fact not meant to strengthen the regime’s hand. When Imad Mughniyeh was killed over 15 years ago, nobody expected that Yahya Sinwar would replace him and subject Israel to an even bigger defeat in Gaza. Seyed Razi and Zahedi will undoubtedly also be replaced.

Rather than intimidating resistance forces, Israel is attempting to play for time before it is compelled to confront its ultimate destiny at the hands of Palestinians. The regime believes that by plunging the region into a maelstrom of chaos and entangling the United States in another pointless war in West Asia that would drain American resources, it may find a chance to survive as an apartheid establishment.

The attack on Iran’s consulate should particularly raise a red flag for Washington, as it demonstrates Israel's readiness to ignite the entire region, even if it means that the U.S. and all its traditional allies in the region would suffer devastating consequences.

According to Israel’s channel 12, the regime is currently enhancing security measures at numerous diplomatic missions as it awaits Iran’s response.  But as Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani noted, Tehran is the one that ultimately decides how Israel should be punished. The U.S. though, must pull the plug on Israel before it’s too late.

By Mona Hojat Ansari