Attack on embassy
Iran accuses Israel of killing commanders – citizens in Tehran demand revenge
After the death of the Iranian generals, people in Tehran demanded, among other things, “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”
© Vahid Salemi / AP / DPA
Israel’s prime minister remains silent about the attack on the Iranian embassy in Syria’s capital Damascus. Iran’s head of state too. But anger in the country is simmering. This is not only shown by the tumult in Tehran.
According to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, seven of its members were killed on Monday in air strikes attributed to Israel on a consular building at the Iranian embassy in Damascus. They also included two senior representatives of the Al-Quds Brigades, the organization said. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a total of eleven people died in the attack. The Iran announced a “firm response.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said commanders Mohammed Reza Sahedi and Mohammed Hadi Haji Rahimi were killed in the attack. The Quds Brigades is an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard responsible for foreign operations.
Israel army spokesman Daniel Hagari declined to comment. Iran’s head of state Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi also remained silent. Their reaction to the air raid is now awaited with both excitement and concern.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the attack and blamed its arch-enemy Israel for the attack. “The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to take countermeasures and will decide on the nature of the response,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, according to a statement from his ministry. Experts have already expressed concern that some in Iran could see the attack as a declaration of war. However, how and whether Iran’s state power will react is completely open.
Iran’s ambassador and family unharmed
After the incident, Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations spoke of a “flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law and the fundamental principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular institutions.” In a statement published on
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll from the “Israeli missile attack” had risen from eight to 11. “Eight Iranians, two Syrians and one Lebanese – all fighters, no civilians,” the head of the Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP. Sahedi was the Quds leader for the Palestinian territories, Syria and Lebanon. The UK-based Observatory draws its information from a network of different sources in Syria. Your information is often difficult to verify independently.
Region in turmoil
Who is on whose side in the Middle East?
The consular section, which was completely destroyed and collapsed by Monday’s attack, is an annex to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, located in the upscale Masseh district. Many other embassies are also located in Masseh – as well as the headquarters of UN organizations. Iran’s ambassador Hussein Akbari and his family were reportedly unharmed. He said on Iranian state television that the attack was carried out by F-35 fighter jets. According to the Syrian Defense Ministry, the shelling came from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
At the scene of the attack, AFP journalists observed rescue workers searching for victims under the rubble and using heavy equipment.
Hamas and Russia stand behind Tehran
Iran’s foreign minister also summoned the Swiss envoy. Since Washington does not have a diplomatic mission in Iran, the Swiss head of mission acts as the US representative in Tehran. As Israel’s main supporter, “the Americans must take responsibility,” Amir-Abdollahian said, according to state news agency Irna.
The Russian Foreign Ministry blamed “the Israeli Air Force” for the attack. “We strongly condemn this unacceptable attack,” the ministry said. The UN Security Council will hold a public meeting on the attack on Tuesday at Russia’s request, Russian envoy to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky announced on the online service X.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia announced “punishment and revenge” for Israel over the attack.
The Islamist Hamas, for its part, called the alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus a “terrorist-Zionist attack” and expressed its “unreserved solidarity with Iran and Syria in the face of this brutal Nazi aggression.” Hamas is calling on the UN Security Council to “take active action against the occupation and its criminal leaders to stop their aggression against the Gaza Strip and the region, which is adding fuel to the fire and undermining international stability and security,” it said Statement from the group on Tuesday night.
In the Iranian capital Tehran, hundreds of government supporters gathered in the city center late on Monday evening for spontaneous protests, eyewitnesses reported. The crowd demanded revenge for the killing of the generals. They shouted, among other things, “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”
Israel wants to deter Iran with attacks on Syria
Israel’s air force repeatedly bombs targets in neighboring Syria in an attempt to prevent Iran and its allied militias such as the Lebanese Hezbollah from expanding their military influence in the country. Attacks have increased since the Gaza war began almost six months ago. Iranian military personnel are officially only active in Syria in an advisory capacity. However, Tehran is considered the Syrian government’s most important ally alongside Russia. A civil war has been raging in the country since 2011.
Attacks have increased since the war between Israel and the Hezbollah-allied Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas began on October 7. Israel rarely comments on its attacks in Syria, but has repeatedly said it will not tolerate an expansion of Iran’s presence in Syria.
The Revolutionary Guards are Iran’s elite armed forces and are considered significantly more powerful than the regular army. Founded after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the unit is intended to prevent a coup and protect the state ideology. The IRGC also operates abroad with the so-called Al-Kuds Brigades. Israel is considered the archenemy of the Iranian government.