After repeatedly vowing through its officials in recent days that the attack targeting its consulate in Damascus would not go unpunished, Iran today, Wednesday, renewed its threats. A member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee and former Revolutionary Guard, Ismail Kowsari, announced that his country maintains the right to strike Israel in the appropriate place. In an interview with the ILNA news agency, he viewed the attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria as a clear violation of the 1961 United Nations Convention, equating the bombing of consulates and embassies to an invasion of a country’s territory.
Regarding Iran’s right to respond, Kowsari pointed to his country’s right to retaliate at the right place and time, indicating that Israel should bear responsibility for its actions. He announced that many elements within what he called the “resistance front” would respond, adding, “If necessary… we will respond ourselves,” referencing pro-Iran groups in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, which have carried out attacks since the Gaza war began, claiming retaliation, while the West accuses them of receiving Iranian support.
Moreover, he emphasized the need for the United Nations’ key members to convene as soon as possible to decide on this issue and to deal forcefully with its perpetrators. He insisted that the attack could not have occurred without coordination with the United States, which Washington has repeatedly denied. He highlighted the importance of Iran’s responsibility in implementing the decisions to prevent such incidents from recurring.
This announcement came just hours after several Iran-aligned militias in the region mobilized following the attack on Damascus. Iraqi armed factions declared they targeted Israel’s Tel Nof base with drones. These factions, calling themselves “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” on Telegram, vowed to continue their attacks on Israel but said these strikes were in response to the bombing of civilians in Gaza.
Simultaneously, the Houthi group in Yemen also took action, with the US Central Command announcing the destruction of a Houthi-operated drone boat. Additionally, a drone reportedly targeted the Al-Tanf base in Syria, marking the first attack by Iraqi militias on US bases since last February, seemingly in retaliation for the consulate strike, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah also hinted yesterday that a response to the consulate attack is imminent. This follows an Israeli airstrike that destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday, killing 11 people, including Revolutionary Guard leaders, amid escalating regional tensions. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “Israeli missiles destroyed a building annexed to the embassy on the Mazzeh highway in Damascus.”
Israel has declined to comment on the attack. However, Iranian officials have promised a decisive response at the right time and place, raising fears of an escalation in violence between Israel and Iran’s allies, stirred since last October’s Gaza war.
