Israeli fighter jets attacked a building of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria yesterday, killing three Iranian generals and four officers. This raised serious concerns that Iran’s response could escalate the war in the Middle East.
Q. “The New York Times” wrote that the slain Iranian military led Iran’s covert operations in the Middle East. Three generals from the elite “Quds” forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and four other officers were killed in the strike. One of them is Reza Sahedi, a senior commander in the Quds Force who led their covert military operations in Syria and Lebanon. His deputy, General Mohammed Hadi Hajriahimi, was also killed, as was General Hossein Aman Alahi, who was in charge of Quds military operations in the region.
According to two KGIR officials, the airstrike was carried out at a time when there was a secret meeting between Iranian intelligence officials and Palestinian fighters, including leaders of the Tehran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
Israel and Iran differ in their comments on the exact purpose of the attacked building. Iran says it is part of its diplomatic mission complex in Syria. Syria’s ambassador to Iran, Shafiq Dayoub, also said a diplomatic building had been hit, which was “a clear and complete violation of all international conventions and norms.”
However, Israel claims that the building was used by the KGIR, making it a legitimate military target.
According to Ali Vaez, an expert on Iran issues at the non-governmental organization “International Crisis Group”, an attack on a diplomatic facility is tantamount to an attack on Iran “on its own territory”. If Iranian authorities do not retaliate, it will undermine their military presence in Syria. But if they respond, they will fall into the trap they believe Israel has set for them to go into direct war, Vaez told The New York Times.
Q. The Financial Times also dwells on the question of what might be the consequences of yesterday’s Israeli attack in Damascus.
Since October, Iran-backed forces in the region, dubbed the “axis of resistance” by Tehran, have traded blows with Israel and attacked US forces and bases in the Middle East, raising fears of a wider conflict, the paper said.
After a drone attack on a US military base on the Jordanian-Syrian border killed three US servicemen at the start of the year, Tehran has sought to ease tensions in recent weeks. In January, senior US and Iranian officials held indirect talks and both sides showed signs of trying to de-escalate hostilities, the Financial Times recalled.
Sanam Vakil, head of the Middle East program at the Chatham House think tank, said yesterday’s attack was “the most serious manifestation of an escalation driven by the conscious intention to put Iran on the defensive”. “Israel’s war is not only against Hamas, it is clearly aimed at hitting the entire axis of resistance to weaken a number of groups,” Vakil pointed out. According to him, Tehran has shown that it does not want a direct conflict with Israel and the US, but the strike on the Iranian diplomatic mission could “force it to act”.
“Israel believes that efforts to contain Iran are effective and is willing to take the risk of a war that would significantly worsen the situation for Iran and Hezbollah,” said Emil Hokayem, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. These calculations will work up to a point, but then they will become catastrophic,” added Hokayem, quoted by the “Financial Times”.
Iranian president vows strikes on Damascus ‘will not go unanswered’
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that the strikes in Damascus “will not go unanswered”, reported AFP.
“Day after day we are witnessing the strengthening of the resistance front and the disgust and hatred of free peoples for the illegitimate character of ‘Israel’ and this vile crime will not go unanswered,” the Iranian president added.
Raisi condemned the “inhuman, aggressive and vile act of invasion”, calling it a “gross violation of international rules”.
Iran announced that it had sent an “important message” to the United States after the Israeli strikes in Damascus, reported AFP.
The message, the contents of which have not been disclosed, was sent to a “Swiss Embassy official” who represents American interests in Iran during a meeting at the Foreign Ministry, according to the head of diplomacy, Hossein Amir Abdollahian. “During the meeting, the terrorist dimension of the attack and the crime committed by the Israeli regime were explained, and the responsibility of the American government was emphasized,” he added in X.
“An important message was sent to the American government as a supporter of the Zionist regime. America must bear responsibility,” the minister added.
Iran does not maintain diplomatic relations with the US and Israel.
The United States told Iran that it had “no involvement” and had no prior information about the Israeli strike on a diplomatic compound in Syria, Reuters reported, citing information from the Axios website.
