US tells Iran it 'had no involvement' in Israeli attack : Axios
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A National Security Council spokesperson told Axios that the US had no prior knowledge of the attack.
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Emergency services work at the Iranian consulate in Syria hit by an Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 1, 2024. (AP)
The US informed Iran that it "had no involvement" or prior knowledge of the Israeli strike on April 1 on the Iranian consulate in Syria that killed the IRGC commander in Lebanon and Syria, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a US official revealed.
Speaking with Axios, a National Security Council spokesperson said that the US "had no involvement in the [Israeli] strike and we did not know about it ahead of time."
A senior US official also said that the US "has communicated this directly to Iran."
Israeli and US officials revealed to Axios that a few minutes before "Israel" launched the strike, it informed the Biden administration without asking for a US green light.
Not only did "Israel" not include any details in its heads-up to the US, like sharing that it was going to bomb a building in the Iranian embassy compound, but the Israeli occupation jets were also already in the air when that piece of information was received by the US, according to a US official.
Post-attack meetings to stop other Israeli crimes
Shortly after the attack, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Blinken met through a secure video conference call with top Israeli officials to discuss alternatives to an Israeli ground invasion in Rafah.
The meeting which lasted for two and a half hours, did not address the Israeli airstrike in Syria, a US official said.
Iran sends a message to the US
Iran's Foreign Minister announced early today that a Swiss embassy official, who represents Washington's interests in the absence of the US embassy in Iran, was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry over the Israeli aggression that targeted the country's consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus on April 1.
"Against the backdrop of the terrorist attack by the Israeli regime on the diplomatic building of the consulate of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus and the death of a number of our country’s military advisers, tonight at 00:45 [21:15 Moscow time], an official of the Swiss embassy, as a defender of US interests in Iran, was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on X.
Through the Swiss embassy official, "an important message was sent to the US government as a supporter of the Israeli regime," the top diplomat mentioned, stressing that "the US must be held accountable."
Legal action will be taken
In a related context, the Iranian Mission to the United Nations affirmed on April 1 that Iran has the right to take action as a response to the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
"The aggressor Zionist regime bears full responsibility for its consequences and the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its legitimate and inherent right under international law and the United Nations Charter to take a decisive response to such reprehensible acts," the statement said.
