By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

“An important message was sent to the American government as a supporter of the Zionist regime,” and “America must be held accountable”.

Iran threatened on Tuesday that it will respond to Israel’s deadly attack on its consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus and summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Swiss embassy to send an “important message” to Washington. 

The attack on Monday evening killed 11 people, including two senior commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC said.

Iranian state TV reported on Tuesday that the country’s Supreme National Security Council, which is a key decision-making body, met on Monday night and decided on a “required” response to the strike. 

The report added that the meeting was chaired by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, but provided no further details.

In a post on the social media platform X, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that an official from the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which serves as an intermediary for US interests in the country, was summoned by the foreign ministry at 12:45 AM local time.

در پی حمله تروريستی رژيم اسراییل به ساختمان ديپلماتيك کنسولگری جمهوري اسلامي ايران در دمشق و شهادت چند تن از مستشاران رسمی نظامي كشورمان، مقام سفارت سوييس بعنوان حافظ منافع امريكا در ایران، ساعت ۰۰:۴۵ بامداد امروز (سه‌شنبه) توسط مديركل امريكا به وزارت خارجه فراخوانده شد.

در این…

— H.Amirabdollahian امیرعبداللهیان (@Amirabdolahian) April 1, 2024

Amir-Abdollahian said that during the meeting, “the dimensions of the terrorist attack and the crime of the Israeli regime were explained, and the responsibility of the American government was emphasized.” 

“An important message was sent to the American government as a supporter of the Zionist regime,” and “America must be held accountable”, the ministry added, without specifying the content of the message. 

For his part, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that the “cowardly crime will not go unanswered,” according to Agence France-Presse.

AFP also quoted Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as saying on his official website that “Israel will be punished” for the attack.

UNSC Meeting

The Iranian Ambassador and Chargé d’Affaires to the United Nations, Zahra Ershadi, wrote a letter to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, demanding an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to categorically denounce the violation of international law.

“Upon instructions of my Government, I am writing to you regarding the flagrant violation of fundamental norms and principles of international law by the Israeli regime wherein the Israeli occupying regime perpetrated a heinous and abhorrent terrorist attack on the diplomatic premises of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Syrian Arab Republic,” the letter read.

Additionally, Russia’s First Deputy Envoy to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, condemned the Israeli attack as an “act of aggression” and summoned a UNSC meeting over the Israeli strike on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Damascus.

Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE and Russia condemned Israel's attack on #Iran's consulate in #Syria. pic.twitter.com/GJYoTySvL4

— IRNA News Agency (@IrnaEnglish) April 2, 2024

“After the Israeli air attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, the Iranians asked the UN Security Council to condemn this action,” Polyansky said in a statement on Tuesday. 

According to the Russian news agency TASS, the meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, at 3 pm New York Times.

“As a follow-up to the Iranians’ letter, we have requested an open meeting of the UN Security Council. The Maltese Presidency has scheduled it for 15:00 New York time (…) on April 2,” Polyansky announced in his statement.

The Russian foreign ministry “strongly condemned” the attack, stating that “Such aggressive actions by Israel are absolutely unacceptable and must be stopped.”

Deadly Attack

Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in the Israeli airstrike on Damascus on Monday, along with other officials.

The latest attack destroyed a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, killing at least seven people, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). 

Iranian media identified the building as the Iranian consulate and the ambassador’s residence. 

‘Tehran Will Surely Respond’ – Israel Escalates by ‘Flattening’ Iranian Consulate in Damascus

According to a Reuters correspondent in Damascus, the consulate was “flattened,” in what was described as “a startling apparent escalation of conflict in the Middle East that would pit Israel against Iran and its allies.”

The attack on the consulate is “a breach of all international conventions,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a call to his Syrian counterpart, according to Iranian media. He added that Tehran will hold Israel responsible. 

Iran’s ambassador to Syria said the response will be “harsh,” according to Reuters.

(The Palestine Chronicle)