That Cowardly Crime Will Not Go Unpunished: Iranian President

The attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus by Israel will not go unanswered. This was stated by the President of the Islamic Republic, Ebrahim Raisi, according to Tasnim news agency. The information was relayed by RIA Novosti.

“Israel must realize that with such inhumane acts, it will never achieve its sinister goals, and day by day, they witness the strengthening of the resistance front, the disgust and hatred of free nations towards their illegal nature, and this cowardly crime will not go unanswered,” he said.

On Monday evening, Syria's Ministry of Defense reported an Israeli airstrike targeting the Iranian consulate in Damascus. The building also housed the residence of Hossein Akbari, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic in Syria; he was unharmed in the attack. The missile strike completely destroyed the consulate.

According to a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC elite units), the Israeli attack resulted in the deaths of seven IRGC officers, including two senior generals: Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the commander of the IRGC's Quds forces in Syria and Lebanon, and his deputy, Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi.

In response to the Israeli attack, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced that it “reserves the right” to personally respond to the airstrike by Tel Aviv against the consulate in Damascus, as well as to determine how to “punish the aggressor.”