Iran vows revenge after death of two top generals in airstrike – what we know Police arrest child after deadly shooting at Finnish school – what we know

That happened

Part of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus was closed on Monday reduced to rubble. An Israeli airstrike is said to be responsible for this. Including during the attack on the consular department two high-ranking Iranian brigadier generals and five members of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were killed. A total of eleven people are said to have died.

The Revolutionary Guards are an elite Iranian unit, originally formed after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. They are intended to prevent coup attempts and protect the Islamic State ideology. The Revolutionary Guards are considered much more powerful than the regular Iranian army.

The part of the building that is right next to the Iranian embassy has been completely destroyed, according to the Syrian news agency Sana.

This is how Iran responds

The Iranian leadership in Tehran described the attack on a diplomatic mission late Monday as unprecedented – and announced a harsh response. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says this aggression is seen as a violation of all diplomatic norms and international treaties, the Guardian writes. Amir-Abdollahian directly attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, announced that the Iranian response to the attack would be “repaid with the same scale and severity.” Akbari and his family survived the attack unharmed.

The Iranian Mission to the United Nations called on the UN Security Council representation to strongly condemn the Israeli “terrorist attack” and take all necessary measures to prevent further attacks. Iran called, among other things, for an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the incident.

The incident also caused reactions among the Iranian population. In the Iranian capital Tehran, hundreds of government supporters gathered in the city center late Monday evening for spontaneous protests, eyewitnesses reported. The crowd demanded revenge for the murder of the generals. They shouted, among other things, ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America’.

That’s what Hezbollah says

The pro-Iranian militia in Lebanon said on Tuesday evening: “This crime will certainly not pass without the enemy experiencing punishment and revenge.” Israel’s enemy still believes that eliminating leaders can stop the people’s determined resistance, the report said.

Iran is Hezbollah’s biggest supporter in Lebanon. The Shiite militia fights politically but also violently against Israel. It is part of the Iranian “Axis of Resistance”. With its own militia, it mainly controls the south of Lebanon, on the border with Israel, the Shiite-inhabited districts of the capital Beirut and the Bekaa Valley in the north of the country.

This is how Israel responds

Not at all, a statement from Israel is still pending. But it would also be surprising if there was another one. Israel generally does not comment on airstrikes and attacks abroad.

This is how the Arab states are responding

Several Arab states have strongly condemned the alleged Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy complex in the Syrian capital Damascus.

A statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the kingdom categorically rejects attacks on diplomatic facilities. They constituted a violation of international law and diplomatic immunity. Egypt has made similar statements. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ahmed Abu Seid, said Egypt rejects such attacks regardless of the reason. We stand in solidarity with Syria and respect its sovereignty.

The Gulf emirate of Qatar says it considers the attack a “blatant violation” of international agreements and conventions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on X (formerly Twitter) that embassy employees must be protected in accordance with the rules of international law. The foreign ministries in Jordan and Lebanon released statements making similar statements.

These are the dead

The generals killed were: Mohammed-Reza Sahedi and his deputy Mohammed Hadi Haji Rahimias Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has explained.

According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, that was Sahedi Commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s foreign unit: Al-Quds Force – Responsible for operations in Syria and Lebanon. According to the Guardian, Sahedi was a central figure in Iran’s relations with the Lebanese Hezbollah and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

The general was responsible, among other things, for rocket deliveries to Hezbollah. He has therefore been on an American sanctions list since 2010. In his role as head of Iran’s air and ground units, a position he previously held, Sahedi was also a key figure in the suppression of protests in Iran.

These questions are open-ended

The question of who carried out the airstrike is most likely rhetorical at best. As mentioned, confirmation from Israel is not expected. However, General Sahedi had been on the Israeli blacklist for a long timeas the “Guardian” writes.

However, it is not known whether the US government was aware of the plans. This only confirmed that they were aware of the attack, but not whether they had been notified in advance. The US classifies the Al-Quds unit as a terrorist organization and has already taken targeted actions against it (see next point).

The question of how Iran will respond specifically to the incident is also open. Although representatives of the country have now vowed revenge, this should still not be assumed that the government wants to risk an escalation and thus an open conflict with Israel.

The same goes for the US, which has so far tried to prevent the conflict from spreading during the Gaza war.

The history

In late December, Iranian General Sejed-Rasi Mousavi, a senior member of the IRGC, was killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded in mid-January with massive rocket attacks in retaliation against targets in Syria and Iraq. The rockets flew about 1,200 kilometers. This was also interpreted by observers as a clear signal to Israel. It would be about the same distance that missiles from the west of the country would need to reach Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

Israel repeatedly attacks targets in Lebanon and Syria to hinder the cooperation and influence of Iranian forces in these countries. The Israelis also occasionally cooperate with the US. The assassination of top Iranian officer Qasem Soleimani, who was executed by drone on behalf of Donald Trump in 2020, caused a particular stir. Soleimani was also the leader of the Al-Quds Force and was blamed by the US for numerous attacks.

The number of attacks has increased since the Gaza war began almost six months ago. Iranian military personnel, on the other hand, are officially only active in Syria in an advisory role. However, Tehran is considered the Syrian government’s most important ally alongside Russia. A brutal civil war has been raging in the country since 2011.

With material from the SDA news agency.