Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Wednesday to “punish” Israel over the latest bombing of the Iranian consulate in Syria, because the area awaits the Islamic Republic’s response to the April 1 assault.
Khamenei delivered a speech through the Eid al-Fitr prayers in Tehran, which marks the tip of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Within the speech, he mentioned Israel’s “evil regime” might be “punished” for the assault on the Iranian consulate, in response to the Islamic Republic Information Company.
“Consulates and embassies of any nation are thought-about the soil of that nation. In the event that they assault our consulate, it means they’ve attacked our territory,” Khamenei mentioned. “The evil regime has made a mistake, and it should be punished and might be punished.”
A suspected Israeli assault hit the Iranian consulate in Damascus final week. The assault killed seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), together with Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the chief of the IRGC’s Quds Pressure in Syria and Lebanon. The consulate, situated close to the Iranian embassy, ​​was closely broken. Israel doesn’t usually focus on its army operations overseas and didn’t touch upon its alleged accountability for the assault.
Khamenei additionally attacked unnamed Muslim international locations for allegedly supporting Israel through the warfare in Gaza.
“This can be a betrayal – a betrayal of the Muslim Ummah… as a result of they’re strengthening the weakening Zionist methods, which can in the end hurt them,” he mentioned.
Israel shouldn’t be receiving direct help from any regional state within the warfare, however the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan have maintained diplomatic relations with Israel because the warfare started with Hamas’ assault final October. All 4 have strongly criticized the conduct of the Israeli military within the battle.
He added that relations with Israel are unpopular within the Muslim world.
“If referendums are held in Islamic international locations, all folks will definitely vote for his or her governments to chop ties with the Zionist regime. There isn’t a doubt about that,” he mentioned.
Khamenei additionally criticized Western governments over the warfare, referring to “the smug and merciless governments of the US and Britain.”
“Western governments over time have at all times helped and supported the Zionist regime, supporting it in worldwide our bodies and offering all types of help to this regime,” he mentioned. “They need to have prevented the regime’s crimes throughout this catastrophe. However Western governments haven’t fulfilled their responsibility.”
The US is closely supporting Israel within the warfare, together with by way of army gross sales, however the Biden administration has develop into extra crucial of late. Final week the federal government mentioned it might make assist to Israel conditional on “concrete” steps to guard civilians.
Why it issues: Khamenei’s speech comes as Israel, america and regional states await an Iranian response to the assault on Syria. The Israeli military final week known as up reservists from air protection items in anticipation of doable assaults.
Iranian officers have repeatedly promised to reply to the incident in Syria. On Monday, Iranian International Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited Syria and reiterated Iran’s intention to carry Israel chargeable for the assault. Nonetheless, the response is but to come back.
Iran and its allies have beforehand exercised warning within the broader regional battle over the Gaza warfare. In late February, The New York Instances reported that Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria had scaled again their assaults on U.S. forces within the area. The decline adopted US assaults on the militias.
Khamenei’s criticism of Muslim international locations over their relations with Tel Aviv follows an IRGC naval commander claiming on Tuesday that Israel is increasing its presence within the UAE. To this finish, Vice Admiral Alireza Tangsiri known as for a coalition of nations to struggle Israel, Al-Monitor’s Tehran correspondent reported. Iran has been crucial of Muslim-majority international locations for refusing to chop ties with Israel because the begin of the warfare.
Understanding extra: The Islamic Republic and its allies have themselves been concerned in assaults on embassies. In 1979, supporters of the Islamic Revolution took dozens of American diplomats hostage on the embassy in Tehran. In 1992, an affiliate of the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah bombed the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. Iranian-backed militias have additionally repeatedly attacked the US embassy in Baghdad.
