The airstrike destroyed a consular building (to the right) next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus
Published April 4, 2024
Iran has vowed to respond to Monday’s air strike on its consulate in Damascus – but what capacity does Iran have to hurt Israel and what form might retaliation take?
Thirteen people were killed including Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, an important figure in the Quds force, the overseas branch of Iran’s elite Republican Guards. Israel has not said whether it was behind the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “completely lost his mental balance”, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying on his ministry’s website.
The escalation was designed to show the world that Iran was a “paper tiger”, said Fawaz Gerges, professor of International Relations at London School of Economics. It also represented a significant loss to the Quds force, “which is really for coordination and arms and technology transfers to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria”.
Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam brigades, has said Brig Gen Zahedi had a “prominent role” in the 7 October Hamas attacks on southern Israel, which sparked the current war in Gaza that is threatening to spread. Iran has denied a role in the attack itself but backs Hamas with funding, weapons and training.
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SOURCE: www.bbc.com
RELATED: Israel beefs up air defenses, calls up troops as Iran payback for Syria strike looms
Speculation suggests Iran could attack Israel from its own territory rather than through proxies, sparking wider hostilities; Gallant says IDF prepared for every scenario
A billboard displays a portrait of slain Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi with a slogan in Hebrew saying, “You will be punished,” on April 3, 2024 at Palestine Square in Tehran. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Published April 4, 2024
The IDF said on Wednesday that it bolstered its air defense array and had called up reservists, as the country girded for a potential Iranian response to a strike in Syria earlier this week in which several high-ranking Iranian military officials were killed.
Both Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have vowed that Israel will not go unpunished for the Monday attack on a consular building next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus, which killed Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ most senior official in Syria, along with his deputy, five other IRGC officers, and at least one member of the Hezbollah terror group.
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SOURCE: www.timesofisrael.com
RELATED: ‘Our blood will not be exploited’: Fatah attacks Iran over West Bank chaos
People gather in support of Palestine, in Tehran, May 19, 2021 (photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)
Published April 3, 2024
The statement from Fatah came as the Palestinian Authority has asked the United Nations Security Council to vote this month to make it a full UN member.
The main Palestinian faction in the West Bank on Wednesday accused Iran of trying to spread chaos in its territory and said it would oppose operations from outside that had nothing to do with the Palestinian cause.
Fatah, the movement that controls the Palestinian Authority, said it would not allow “our sacred cause and the blood of our people to be exploited” and said it would act against any interference from outside aimed at harming security forces or national institutions.
