[ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tehran: In a significant escalation, an alleged Israeli airstrike demolished Iran\u2019s consulate building in Syria on Monday, killing two Iranian generals and five other officers. Israel has made no remark on the attack so far. However, its military spokesperson blamed Iran for a drone strike on Monday in southern Israel.<\/p>\n
According to reports, Israel\u2019s warplanes shot six missiles at the compound in Damascus.<\/p>\n
According to reports, suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran\u2019s embassy in Syria on Monday. Among those killed were three senior commanders. The incident took place in the Mezzeh district of Damascus.<\/p>\n
Syria\u2019s foreign minister Faisal Mekdad condemned the bombing. \u201cWe strongly condemn this atrocious terrorist attack that targeted the Iranian consulate building in Damascus and killed a number of innocents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, said the strike hit a consular building in the embassy compound and that his residence was on the top two floors. He is, however, unharmed. Among those who died was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in its Quds Force, which is an elite foreign espionage and paramilitary arm. Israel has been targeting Iran\u2019s military sites in Syria but this was the first time it attacked its embassy.<\/p>\n
Israel refused to comment on \u201creports in the foreign media\u201d. However, the New York Times cited four unnamed Israeli officials as acknowledging that Israel had carried out the attack.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s UN mission said the attack was a \u201cflagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the foundational principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises.\u201d It said Tehran reserved the right \u201cto take a decisive response.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hezbollah, the Lebanese group seen as Iran\u2019s most powerful armed proxy in the region, vowed to retaliate. \u201cThis crime will not pass without the enemy receiving punishment and revenge,\u201d the group said in a statement. Muslim nations including Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also condemned the attack, as did Russia.<\/p>\n
Those who died in the attack included Haji Rahimi, described as a coordinator for the Quds Force. Hossein Aman Elahi, Mehdi Jalalati, Mohsen Sedaghat, Ali Aghababaee, and Ali Salehi Roozbahani also died in the attack. Iran says the attack was carried out using F-35 warplanes. \u201cThis is perhaps the first time that the Zionist regime allows itself to attack an official building of the Islamic Republic of Iran embassy, which had the flag of the Islamic Republic raised on top of it,\u201d Akbari said.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the building wasn\u2019t a consulate or embassy but a military structure of the Quds forces disguised as a civilian facility. He said that on Monday, a drone attack on a naval base in southern Israel was \u201cdirected by Iran\u201d and caused no injuries. Akbari, meanwhile, vowed revenge for the strike \u201cat the same magnitude and harshness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Experts believe Iran will retaliate. Steven Cook, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, said Iran can direct Hezbollah to escalate its attacks on Israel. \u201cThe IRGC can loosen restraints on proxies in Iraq and Syria, placing American forces in jeopardy again. The Iranians could also direct Hezbollah to escalate its attacks on Israel, which have been growing bolder and more numerous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
[ad_2]
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[ad_1] \u00a0 Tehran: In a significant escalation, an alleged Israeli airstrike demolished Iran\u2019s consulate building in Syria on Monday, killing two Iranian generals and five other officers. Israel has made no remark on the attack so far. However, its military spokesperson blamed Iran for a drone strike on Monday in southern Israel. According to reports, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24532"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24534,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24532\/revisions\/24534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}