News

Iran: Israeli embassies 'no longer safe' after Syria strike

By AFP

April 7, 2024 06:51 PM


Twitter Share Facebook Share WhatsApp Share

An adviser to Iran's supreme leader warned Sunday that Israeli embassies are "no longer safe" after a strike in Syria which Tehran blamed on Israel killed seven Revolutionary Guards members.

"The embassies of the Zionist regime are no longer safe," Yahya Rahim Safavi, senior adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

Tehran has vowed to avenge Monday's air strike on Damascus that levelled the Iranian embassy's consular annex, killing seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members including two generals.

"The resistance front is ready; how it (the response) will be, we have to wait," Safavi said, noting that "confronting this brutal regime is a legal and legitimate right".

He also noted that multiple Israeli embassies around the region "have been shuttered".

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Monday's attack, which Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said killed 16 people, was the fifth raid on Syria in a week blamed on Israel.

Among the dead were generals Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi who were senior commanders in the Quds Force, the IRGC's foreign operations arm.

Zahedi, 63, had held several commands during a career spanning more than 40 years.

He was the most senior Iranian soldier killed since a United States missile strike at Baghdad airport in 2020 killed Quds Force chief General Qasem Soleimani.

Monday's strike in Damascus took place against the backdrop of the Gaza war which began with Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel which killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians.

Tehran backs Hamas but has denied any direct involvement in the attack which sparked massive Israeli retaliation against the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas-run health ministry in the Palestinian territory says at least 33,175 people have been killed there during six months of war.

Iran does not recognise Israel, and the two countries have fought a shadow war for years.

The Islamic republic accuses Israel of having carried out a wave of sabotage attacks and assassinations targeting its nuclear programme.


AFP


Most Read

  1. Durefishan and Bilal Abbas are secretly Nikahfied, claims YouTuber Maria Durefishan and Bilal Abbas are secretly Nikahfied, claims YouTuber Maria
  2. Hurray! Summer vacations for Punjab schools announced Hurray! Summer vacations for Punjab schools announced
  3. Life sans internet service returns to normalcy in Azad Kashmir Life sans internet service returns to normalcy in Azad Kashmir
  4. Summer vacations for schools announced Summer vacations for schools announced
  5. Resham issued notice for not paying vehicle's tax Resham issued notice for not paying vehicle's tax
  6. Climate change could force Bangkok to move, official warns Climate change could force Bangkok to move, official warns

Opinion

  1. Alice Munro, Canada's 'Chekhov'
    Alice Munro, Canada's 'Chekhov'

    By AFP

  2. Pak-Saudi-Iran economic proximity
    Pak-Saudi-Iran economic proximity

    By News Desk

  3. Military Establishment rules out any deal with what it terms a ‘bunch of anarchists’
    Military Establishment rules out any deal with what it terms a ‘bunch of anarchists’

    By Salim Bokhari

  4. 9th May - A year later
    9th May - A year later

    By Mutaza Solangi

  5. Everything but the truth in Telegraph
    Everything but the truth in Telegraph

    By Mutaza Solangi

  6. PM Shehbaz Sharif, WEF and Pakistan
    PM Shehbaz Sharif, WEF and Pakistan

    By Naveed Aman Khan