Iran vowed on Tuesday (2) that it will take revenge on Israel for an airstrike that killed two of its top generals and five other military advisers at the Iranian embassy complex in Damascus, the Syrian capital, highlighting the risk of a new escalation following the unprecedented incident.
Tensions have been spreading across the Middle East since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza; Until now, Iran has carefully avoided direct conflict with Israel, while supporting allies who attack Israeli and American targets.
Israel did not claim responsibility for the attack that destroyed a consular building adjacent to the main Iranian embassy building in the Mezzeh district of Damascus on Monday, killing seven members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
But an Israeli government official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said those targeted “were behind many attacks on Israeli and American assets and had plans for additional attacks.”
The embassy was “not a target,” the official said.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has vowed revenge. “The Zionist regime will be punished at the hands of our brave men. We will make him regret this crime and others he has committed,” he said.
At least one member of the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah was also killed in the attack, according to two security sources in Lebanon.
Israel has stepped up a years-long campaign of airstrikes against targets of Iranian or Iranian-backed groups in Syria since the start of the war in Gaza, but Monday's apparent strike was one of the boldest yet.
Syrian civil defense teams were still working on Tuesday to clear the rubble, while ambulances were parked nearby.
Iran's ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, who was not injured in the attack, said the destroyed building housed his residence. He could be seen leaving the main embassy building on Tuesday with his security guards.
“Having failed to destroy the will of the resistance front, the Zionist regime put blind assassinations back on its agenda to save itself,” said Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, referring to Iran’s allies in the “Axis of Resistance.”
“(Israel) must know that it will never achieve its goals and that this cowardly crime will not go unanswered,” Raisi said.
Israel does not normally discuss attacks by its forces in Syria. Asked about the incident, an Israeli military spokesman said: “We do not comment on foreign press reports.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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