Israel: Iran threatens further attacks after consulate bombing in Syria

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Iranian leadership around Ali Khamenei (in the middle of the picture) with coffins of revolutionary guards killed in Damascus

Photo: Iranian Supreme Leader'S Office / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO

After the attack on an Iranian consular building in Damascus attributed to Israel, the leadership in Tehran issued a threat against Israeli missions abroad. "The Zionist regime's messages are no longer safe," said Jahja Rahim Safawi, high-ranking advisor to spiritual leader Ali Khamenei, on Sunday, according to the Isna news agency.

For this reason, Israel has already closed 27 embassies, Safawi added. Ayatollah Khamenei's adviser cited the Israeli missions in Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Turkey as an example.

At least 13 people were killed in a rocket attack on the consular building in Syria's capital on Monday, including seven members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Iran, Syria and Russia blamed Israel for the attack. Governments in Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates unanimously condemned the attack.

Consulate or military property?

Israel did not comment directly on the incident. "According to our intelligence findings, this is not a consulate or an embassy," said military spokesman Daniel Hagari, "this is a military property of the Quds Brigade, disguised as a civilian building." Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel has continued its attacks on Iranian targets and on Tehran's allies in Syria and Lebanon.

Diplomatic representations actually enjoy special protection under international law. The WÜD, the “Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” which formally came into force in 1964, stipulates, among other things, the inviolability of diplomatic missions. Israel has also joined the convention.

The WÜD rules were recently broken in another high-profile case: security forces in Ecuador broke into the Mexican embassy in Quito on Friday. There they arrested former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas on corruption charges. He had previously received asylum in Mexico.

chs/AFP