UN condemns 'attack' on Iranian consulate in Syria

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
2 Apr 2024 20:20

The United Nations, without specifying the perpetrator, ambiguously condemned an attack that targeted Iran's consulate in Syria's Damascus and led to numerous casualties.

Emergency services work at a building hit by an air strike in Damascus, Syria, April 1, 2024 (AP)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attacks launched against the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday, though they did not specify the assailant despite all the fingers pointing toward the Israeli occupation.

The "inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and personnel must be respected in all cases," Dujarric quoted Guterres as saying before underlining that he urged all concerned parties to "exercise utmost restraint and avoid further escalation."

"He cautions that any miscalculation could lead to a broader conflict in an already volatile region," the spokesperson added, warning that escalation would yield "devastating consequences for civilians who are already seeing unprecedented suffering in Syria, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian Territory, and the broader Middle East."

The commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guard Corps' Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was killed in an Israeli attack that targeted the Iranian consulate in Syria in the al-Mazzeh neighborhood, Damascus, Syria, on Monday afternoon, Syrian and Iranian state media reported.

Iranian state television confirmed that the aggression targeted the Iranian consulate building and the residence of the Iranian ambassador in Damascus. It later confirmed that the Quds Force Commander in Lebanon and Syria was killed in the attack.

In further details, the Iranian state television said that the Israeli attack targeted the residence of the Iranian ambassador to Syria.

Later, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported from the vicinity of the Iranian consulate in Damascus that 7 were martyred and several others were wounded in a preliminary toll of the Israeli aggression, confirming that search and rescue operations are underway at the site of the Iranian consulate, which was completely destroyed.

A Syrian military source said that the Israeli aggression on Syria led to the complete destruction of the Iranian consulate, as well as the martyrdom and injury of all those in it.

The source explained that the aggression was conducted from the side of the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, as the Syrian Arab Army's air defenses successfully downed some of the launched missiles.

Against the backdrop of the Israeli assassination of a senior IRGC commander in Syria on Monday, the Iranian Ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari reiterated that the Islamic Republic will continue to stand by Resistance movements and nations that tread this path.

Talking to Al Mayadeen, the envoy said that "the entity is committing acts that contravene humanity" and its attack reflects the "reality of the Zionist entity that does not respect any international norms and laws," confirming that the Islamic Republic will not be intimidated by the occupation entity.