Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has called upon the international community to respond decisively after an Israeli attack on an Iranian consulate in Damascus resulted in the death of a senior Guards commander and others.
Amir-Abdollahian, in a telephone conversation with Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, attributed the aftermath of the attack to the Zionist regime and emphasized the necessity for a serious international response to such actions, as per Iran’s foreign ministry statement.
According to state TV reports, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, described as “one of the senior commanders” in the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was “martyred in an attack by Zionist regime fighters on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s consulate building in Damascus.” Zahedi, aged 63, had served in the Guards for over four decades.
Amir-Abdollahian condemned the attack as a violation of international obligations and conventions, attributing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions to recent failures in Gaza, where Israel has been engaged in conflict with Iran-backed Hamas militants for nearly six months.
In a separate statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani strongly denounced the attack, asserting Iran’s right to retaliate and determine the nature of the response and the punishment for the aggressor.
Earlier reports from Iran’s ambassador in Damascus, Hossein Akbari, stated that the consulate building was targeted by Israeli F-35 fighter jets with six missiles, resulting in the deaths of at least five people, including three military personnel. Akbari pledged a resolute response to the attack.
