TEHRAN: An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday warned that Israeli embassies are “no longer safe” after a strike in Syria which Tehran blamed on Israel killed seven Revolutionary Guards members. On April 1, Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which Tehran has pledged to retaliate.
The official, an adviser to Supreme Leader Yahya Rahim Safavi, emphasized the vulnerability of Israeli diplomatic missions. “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.
“The resistance front is ready; how it (the response) will be, we have to wait,” Yahya Rahim Safavi said, noting that “confronting this brutal regime is a legal and legitimate right”.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has reaffirmed the country’s readiness to confront any potential threats posed by Iran, indicating that preparations for various scenarios have been completed.
16 Killed in Israeli Attack on Iran’s Consulate in Damascus
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.
In response to Monday’s airstrike on Damascus, Safavi reiterated Iran’s determination to retaliate against what it perceives as Israeli aggression. The strike also led to the closure of multiple Israeli embassies in the region, according to Safavi.
The attack on the Iranian consulate marked the fifth incident in a week attributed to Israel by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Among the casualties were prominent IRGC commanders, including General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, both of whom held significant roles within the Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign operations arm.
