After strike attributed to Israel on Iranian consulate in Damascus, Tehran faces strategic dilemma

In what appears to be a provocation towards Iran, Israel has dealt a crushing blow to the “axis of resistance”. Monday 1^er In April, a strike attributed to Israeli aircraft pulverized the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus, killing two commanders of the Al-Quds Force, as well as five other members of the branch of the Revolutionary Guards responsible for external operations.

In the heart of Mazzeh, the embassy district of Damascus, all that remains is a pile of rubble and the building’s gate. “Consular Section of the Iranian Embassy”

. Late Monday evening, the building, located in the Iranian embassy complex, was completely destroyed in an airstrike. The diplomatic representation, adorned with a giant portrait of Qassem Soleimani, the former head of the al-Quds Force, who was killed in January 2020 in an American drone strike in Iraq, was closed on the thirteenth day of the traditional festival of Nowruz. Celebrating the New Year of the Persian Calendar.

Condemned the attack on the diplomatic representation as “Violation of all international obligations and conventions”Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called “International Community” to bring “A Serious Answer” to this “Criminal Actions” which he attributed to Israel. His spokesman added that the Islamic Republic will decide what kind of response and punishment it will adopt against the Jewish state.

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“By targeting the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which is considered Iranian territory under international law, Israel is pushing Iran to the wall. The rules of engagement of the past are now completely obsolete. Non-reaction is no longer an option for Tehran.Hamidreza Azizi, a researcher at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik Research Institute in Berlin, believes so.

In fact, Iran is facing a dilemma. The response could trigger open conflict with Israel and regional flare-ups. A scenario Tehran has sought to avoid since the war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, 2023, leaving its allies in the “Axis of Resistance” – Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi militias and Yemeni Houthis. – Attacks the Jewish state alone. In support of the Palestinian Hamas. But failing to respond could tarnish Tehran’s reputation within this axis and reduce its deterrence against Israel, thus exposing its cadres to other attacks.

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