Several senior members of Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard are said to have been killed in an attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Iran blamed Israel and announced a “strong response.”
Black smoke looms over the street in front of the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Pictures on social networks show the embassy’s neighboring building in ruins. An Israeli rocket is said to have hit there, according to the Syrian state news agency Sana.
According to media reports, a general from the Iranian al-Quds Brigade and his deputy were among those killed in the suspected Israeli Air Force attack. These brigades are an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that specializes in foreign operations. According to experts, they are supposed to coordinate cooperation with pro-Iranian militias such as the Lebanese Hezbollah in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
Repeated Israeli attacks in Syria
“It is clear that Israel is carrying out these attacks because they see what is happening in Lebanon and Syria,” said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Ramy Abdoulrahman, in an interview with the Saudi television channel al-Hadath. “This attack is a continuation of other attacks on Iranian personnel in this region. It is intended to unsettle Hezbollah and others.”
The Israeli Air Force repeatedly attacks targets in Syria, but also in Lebanon. Israel probably wants to prevent Iran and its allied militias from expanding their military influence in neighboring countries such as Syria or Lebanon, say experts. Iran is considered Israel’s archenemy and repeatedly calls for the annihilation of the Jewish state.
“Almost forces Iran to respond”
The current attack near the Iranian embassy in Damascus could now mean an escalation of tensions in the region. An Iranian response could lead to an expansion of the war Israel is waging against Gaza’s Hamas and its allies.
“If it hits an annex of the Iranian embassy, that is, if a missile hits Iranian soil directly, then Israel will almost force Iran to respond,” believes the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Ramy Abdulrahman. “It could be that Hezbollah, for example, strikes and interprets it as a reaction to the attack.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian blamed Israel for the destruction and deaths on the embassy grounds. According to Syrian and Iranian media, the airstrikes were said to have been carried out “from the direction” of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel’s army did not initially comment on the reports.
Iran’s clear signal to Israel
At the end of last year, a senior general in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was killed near Damascus in a suspected Israeli airstrike. The regime in Tehran responded with rocket attacks on various targets in Syria and Iraq.
These attacks were seen by observers as a clear signal to Israel. At that time, the ballistic missiles traveled about the same distance that such weapons would need from western Iran to reach Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
Tilo Spanhel, ARD Cairo, tagesschau, April 1, 2024 11:10 p.m