Updated 4/1/24 at 6:00 pm EST
On Monday, an Israeli airstrike leveled an Iranian consulate building that’s next to the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus, marking a significant escalation in Israeli attacks on Iranians in the region.
At least seven people were killed in the strike, including Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran has confirmed the death of Zahedi, who oversaw the IRGC’s Quds Force operations in Syria and Lebanon and is vowing a harsh response.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani Tehran will “decide on the type of response and punishment against the aggressor.” According to AP, the IRGC said the strike also killed Zahedi’s deputy and five other Iranian officers.
The bombing of the diplomatic facility comes a few days after Israel launched some of its heaviest airstrikes in Syria that reportedly killed 52 people, including Syrian soldiers and members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Israel has also killed multiple members of the IRGC since it ramped up airstrikes in Syria after October 7.
The strikes targeting Iranians risk a direct response from Iran or an escalation from Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border. Israel has also been launching airstrikes deep inside Lebanon against Hezbollah, although many recent strikes have killed civilians.
Israel appears to be trying to provoke a major regional war in hopes that the US would get directly involved. US officials have acknowledged to the media that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might view a full-blown war in Lebanon as key to his political survival. A regional war would also take attention and scrutiny away from Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza.
totally justified.
In what way?
Good Question. i was just about to ask the same thing.
Iran and Hezbollah wish to attack and destroy Israel.
That goes both ways, right? Any Israeli diplomatic facility is now fair game? Like killing anything that moves regardless of if armed? Or killing hordes of people gathered in an area with the claim that there was a bad guy among them as justification? Can others starve Israelis to death and blame the Israelis now? I mean, this slaughter has brought on so many changes to normal rules of engagement for warfare, it has almost made terrorism legal. But we all know that if others were doing what Israel is doing, it WOULD be called terrorism.
Agreed, because it is. But you might be giving us too much credit, in terms of describing what “We All Know.” Look how Ukraine and Israel wage war. They wage war exactly like we do. …Okay, you all. Go away. Russia and Iran are stupid. …The Chinese too. They even sent a “Spy” Balloon that was not actually a “Spy” Balloon. How is that? Better?
By “we all know”, I meant that our brainwashed populace would call obvious terrorism what it is, obvious terrorism. But only when Israel isn’t doing it.
Agreed
^^^ = Oct 7 “totally justified”
Then don’t complain when Israel is responding.
Yep, totally justified by Israel to carry out an illegal execution of foreign officials and innocents in their consulate (Iran) by conducting missile strikes against a sovereign nation (Syria), with no warning given and where neither nation is in a state of war with Israel.
All totally on the up and up, of course unless the attack is on a US or Israeli consulate, when the rules change and it suddenly becomes a war crime.
You people are nuts.
those who came to plan murder of Israelis got what for.
Well these people are Zionists. You cannot expect them to understand any of that. It’s the wrong kind of logic. It doesn’t make sense to them that the rules for everybody else should go for them too. They cannot understand the concept of that. And why should they? It has never been the case. They are after all the master race. Even God said so. And they are entitled to kill who they want. Whenever and for whatever reason.
Even genocide is a good thing because they do it. That is their pathology. It is internalized racism on steroids, they are not able to get past the entitlement on which their whole worldview is based.
Officially, Syria is in a state of war with Israel ever since they attacked Israel in 1973 (probably earlier).
The list of the dead is quite interesting.. Iranian generals, Islamic Jihad top militants..
The site seems less and less “diplomatic”
And US embassies don’t have any military personal around protecting them?
Yah. Everything that Israel does is wright, good ,and justified no matter what. Because Israel and US of A say so. They are the righteous ones.
These assholes are trying to drag the US into a further regional conflict.
Israel doesn’t need to “drag” the US into a regional conflict.
America has been wanting War with Iran since 1979 and the overthrow of the Shah.
All this is is just another way to make the ultimately inevitable happen.
I’m not so sure that the US really wants a war with Iran anymore. A war with Iran would probably cost more than the US is willing to pay. It wouldn’t go down very well at home if Iran sinks a US aircraft carrier and 6,000 Americans perish with the ship. Israel, however, has no concern about how many Americans are lost in a war it wants the United States to fight for it.
We cannot keep up with the needs in Ukraine. We would have to shut down auto making, etc., and do a WWII concerted effort to do it. WTF? What about current needs at home, not more bombs?
If US powers that be wanted a war with Iran, they could have had one in the 00’s when our power was at the max and theirs negligible. The intel people actively prevented that back then by not giving the Bushcheney admin the intel ammo they needed.
Even just last year, US intel declared that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful … they could have easily held otherwise if needed and thus justified more tensions.
There’s a reason for that, they learned a lesson in Iraq. Iran is three times the size of Iraq, has much more difficult terrain, has twice the population, has a fairly well trained and armed military, has an intact infrastructure, and is mostly one single ethnicity. Iraq had none of those and we eventually had to pull out with our tail between our legs.
No general wants losing a war on their resume, it will screw up their post-military career. If Biden orders them to invade you’ll see him assassinated within the week (and some poor anti-war patsy set up for the fall.)
The US isn’t being dragged. It is never, ever, dragged. The empire wants this.
Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
I think you’ve misinterpreted what I said. The US wants war with Iran. Wants it. They always say they are dragged into all their genocidal wars. As in “dragged into Vietnam.”
I got what you said. The US is not prepared for WWIII, in spite of the insane hubris.
You have no idea whether they are or aren’t. None. Famous last words.
They can barely supply arms, if that is the truth.
They won’t be beating up on countries like Afghanistan. Who they are saber rattling against are big boys with nukes.
Keep dreaming.
None can be prepared for WWIII. But there are factions within the US government who want war with Iran, who want war with China and who want war with Russia. All of them keep telling us and none of them ever has been less than absolutely serious about that. Neocons are going to kill us all. And that will be the closing statement of the short lasting appearance of the human species in the evolutionary theatre.
That was why I said be careful what you wish for. Some of these lunatics think it will be a commanding victory, but they are unhinged idiots about the consequences.
I might have overlooked things but I didn’t see anyone here wishing for a war with Iran. Iran certainly seems to go out of their way to avoid one, even though they have their share of hotheads too.
The point was that there are people on well placed positions within the US government, military and on the perifery who might succeed in starting their desired war with Iran with just the right nudge. The Netanyahu government too has long been convinced it is the solution to all their problems and who also never did much to keep it a secret.
I do think you are going to be proven right if you mean to say that a war with Iran will result in an ever expanding disaster for all involved very quickly. But no one I think could ever charge the neocons with a sense of realism.
The “be careful what you wish for” was directed at the Bolton types in government. It’s an old idiom that I thought would be understood in that context.
Thank you, you nailed it! That was a perfect post.
Agreed 100%. We like the image of “Reluctant Worrier” but the truth is, we’re not “reluctant”–we’re stupid. We always chose war that never help anything. This is why we have this website that’s called “Antiwar” to start with.
The war with Iran began in 1953 with the coup that the CIA cooked up (ordered by Ike) that deposed the elected leader of Iran, installing the Shah.
The Empire better be ready for thousands of body bags appearing at Dover Air Base, then. As in, thousands per week.
The US is incapable of defeating the Taliban or the Houthis. What dues that tell you about their chances against Iran, backed by Russia.
Afghanistan would have been a parking lot if it bordered the US. Same with Yemen. Those far away wars are just to feed the MIC. Losing is winning.
The war started in 1953 with the coup, the installation of the Shah.
We nuked Japan quite justifiably in 1945,and now thy are allies.
In your mind, you can always find a justification for mass murder.
Obviously not justifiably. Japan had no fuel sources at home and no ability therefore to make war outside of the archipelago. There was no need to contemplate a hostile landing on the islands. It’s all a fantasy to justify mass murder of civilians, the more documentation has come out through the years the more we know the actual aims were to show the USSR and China the new toys we had and to end the war before Soviet troops could land in Japan and split the country as in Germany.
“quite JUSTFIABLY”
Wow, and here I thought you were a sick fucker when it came to anything Israel does. I stand corrected.
The U.S. along with Israel have been the most warlike countries in recent history. We are not peace loving people regardless of the claims of that coming from our not so noble leaders but seem to revel in war.
Our New Deal salesman, Roosevelt, cajoled Japan to attack by ordering a blockade, among things. An oil blockade. An act of war.
I don’t think the U.S. gets dragged into any conflicts. The U.S. is responsible for a lot of conflicts around the world, and this conflict in Syria is a good example.
The U.S. is a willing participant.
Ah, sh-t ! Israel is trying to start a fricking Third World War?…
Lie, deny, then alibi, isn’t that totally, politically, incorrect…
Hahahahahahaha!
Then one must ask, lol, well, ah, if Israel has the right to exist?… Hmmm. And it seems that the father is questioning himself, perhaps?…
I am merely being, politically incorrect, of course, cause the father absolutely knows his own mind.
Ah, it is just that sometimes, well, we all question ourselves and our own abilities but not the father of everyone and everything because the father truly is Devine, absolutely because he hasn’t sent anyone to save us, children, he is merely doing what we asked him to, so he is really doing it himself, which actually is rather brilliant and even a relief for all of us, including me, a simple woman of peace because the father has listened to all of us Women and is making the peace himself, without actually sacrificing any OF US, not even HIMSELF, which simply means, the father is just as Devine as the SON but he is not a son of a bitch! He simply is the father, of the son and the father of ALL of US, which makes him a truly loving and caring father because he is actually making peace on earth, like we asked him to, without sacrificing any OF US, To even his own true son and mother of the son or any of the daughters either. Well that means is truly is divine because he is doing we asked him to do!
That would have been an act of way had any other nation done it. Whatever response Iran decides on is justified, IMO. If, say, Russia decided to bomb our embassy in ANY country you know the Good Old Boys™ would be beating the doors down to ‘nuke em into the stone age’ like they always want to.
Well, here you go. I’ve said all along that Israel wants the US to attack Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Now it’s clear that they will do anything necessary to insure that happens. This was a very clear and massive escalation against Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.
Iran can not allow this incident without retaliating. Whether they do so directly or use Hezbollah or its Iranian militias in Syria to do it is problematic. I suspect they will react directly, as no country can allow this sort of thing.
When the US bombed the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavoa, it claimed it was an accident and apologized and later paid compensation to China who in turn paid compensation to the US for damages to US facilities in China as a result of the demonstrations that occurred.
Israel isn’t going to claim an accident or apologize. So Iran will have to respond more or less directly.
Less directly, Iran plays the long game.
Iran can not allow this incident without retaliating.
They have in the past. When a general was in Iraq on a diplomatic mission to its president Rump had him drone murdered. Iran’s “retaliation” was to politely ask for an apology in the UN, and be ignored.
The US Empire is digging its own hole, and letting its flunkies Israel and Ukraine help. We’ll see what happens when it’s deep enough that the rest of the world can fill it up on top of us.
In the Qasem Soleimani case, he was in Iraq on his own. He was not on Iran sovereign territory which is what the Consulate it. This was a direct attack on IRAN, not just Iranian persons.
What irritates me is that some people are still questioning whether Netanyahu is doing this sort of thing in defiance of the US. He’s not. This is COORDINATED with the US. This is what the Gantz and Gallant visits were all about it – to notify the US of what Israel is going to do and to coordinate with the Pentagon and the White House on expanding the war.
Make no mistake – this expanded war is going to happen. People need to stop talking about “stopping it” because no one is going to stop it. Not Biden, not Netanyahu, not the UNSC, not anyone.
President Kennedy exchanged letters with Ben-Gurion, compelling Ben-Gurion to not develop the bomb. President Kennedy correctly surmised that a nuclear armed Israel would be emboldened to become more aggressive in the ME (the land grab in 1967). The letters were exchanged not long before he was assassinated. Therefore, I add Israel to the list of those who wanted President Kennedy gone. Israel, the MIC, the CIA, the Dulles brothers (particularly Allen), VP Johnson (the war in Vietnam went full bore with Johnson, rather than de-escalated in a second Kennedy administration). Just my own conjecture.
They are following the example of the US bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.
Worth mentioning, the consulate building bombed is officially Iranian soil. It’s hard to imagine a next step that doesn’t include explosions in Israel.
Yet another despicable, illegal and cowardly act by Israel.
Stupid, too.
Iran will of course retaliate. It knows the Zionists in the US and Israel are trying to goad them into military conflict, so if the response is military in nature it will be massive and aimed to prevent Israel escalating any further.
I’m guessing Iran has worked it that this isn’t the best option and will instead retaliate by hitting Israel’s imploding economy – perhaps by cutting off any access to unfriendly traffic via the Straits of Hormuz.
Let’s see what happens.
What’s cowardly is Iran attacking Israel through proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas, and Houthis hoping to not risk retaliation. Well I guess that’s not gonna happen
Yes, because without Iran, there’d be no resistance groups against Israel occupation. And “cowardly” would be a much more apt description of what Israel is doing in Gaza. But of course, Israel shouldn’t have to worry about retaliation for merely conducting a genocide, am I right?
As always, Wars, you hit the nail on the damn head.
You are wrong. Cowardly is what Hamas is doing. Firing their weapons from schools, mosques and hospitals hoping to draw Israeli fire and hoping for Palestinian casualties. Cowardly is stealing food from Gazans and selling it to them at 10 times the price. But then you know that, don’t you?
I didn’t say what Hamas was doing wasn’t cowardly. But in comparison,… I can’t even say that because there is none. One side’s cowardice makes the other side’s cowardice look pathetically amateurish. And your example about the food would be legitimate if Israel wasn’t outdoing Hamas in that regard too. Does potentially starving hundreds of thousands to death sound like an act of kindness to you? Especially given the fact that parts of Gaza’s population were already malnourished pre slaughter. Hamas is supposed to be the bad guys but Israel has surpassed anything Hamas has done to the degree that should even shame you defenders.
Self defense is always just and justified.
Genocide is NEVER just and justified.
Netanyahu was right when he said we were good teachers as to how it is done. We, the white house on the hill, the indispensable one, have done it all.
And everything Israel does is considered “self defense.”
You hit the nail on the head.
Oh, everything, even blowing up and maiming Palestinian “terrorists” under the age of 5. The Holocaust Industry is a cookin’.
The Iranian General knowingly took a big risk being so close to personally assess the situation. Now he is a martyr.
Look on a map and keep in mind China has a rail line into Afghanistan, which borders Iran. China also has a rail line that crosses the Volga River en route to Moscow and then Europe. Iran has access to the Volga River via the Caspian sea, these water ways connect to the Black and Mediterranean seas via a canal system in the Don river.
Iran is the oldest civilization empire on Earth. China is probably Earth’s second oldest human civilization empire. The Moscow area was once governed by Genghis Kahn’s eldest son.
Europe already knows it cannot take over the entire Eurasian continent. It is Israel and the US who want to give it a try now. Of course Iran knows Israel has atom bombs to kill every mom and dad and their children while they sleep. Even those who are awake will be dead before sensation reaches their brain.
The world knows via Gaza that Israelis and Americans will unleash atomic war in order to keep their presidents out of prison.
What will the chess masters do?
What? I have no idea what you are trying to convey.
Ah, Tim Burns! So, tell me, is there a constant battle in your head with jake and Don Julio, to determine who gets out of your head and on the pages of RS and other blogs?
Well said, well said. The time of humankind is at hand and the only way forward Peace.
That’s two. And how many scientists has Israel assassinated?
As many as necessary.
Jake, seriously?
War is not the answer but Peace is the answer for all of us.
Donna. jake, Tim Burns, Don Julio are the same person.
“In my imagination, jake, Tim Burns, Don Julio are the same person.”
Fixed, no charge.
It’s not a consulate (that’s miswording by Reuters, probably intentional), it’s THE EMBASSY and there are many victims.
All Israeli embassies and consulates around the world are now fair game for terrorist action. I just can’t see the rationale behind Israel’s addiction to killing.
Indeed. What a stupid move on their part. Now they have to watch their backs at every turn. What a crappy way to live.
Zionist are sacrificing the Israeli citizens for their evil agenda…!
Asymmetrical war by people quite willing to become martyrs, an “army of G-d”, so to speak.
The rational is the Israeli Zionist government would like to see human blood spills. They would probably drink it on occasions just like vampires…!
The IDF has spilled enough blood. Witnesses attest that when the IDF pulled out from the hospital they were attacking, the IDF left behind Palestinian bodies everywhere. I weep for the children, toddlers, with limbs missing. What angers me is my taxes pay for it. Biden and the 535 members of congress can go to h*ll. Jeremiah Wright was correct when he said “G-d D*mn America!” Israel is merely following our history To the letter. Ethnic cleansing. Check. Genocide. Check. Killing civilian populations by crude bombing. Check. Starving a population (Iraq, through Billy Clinton’s sanctions). Check. You see, the Zionists of Israel are very good students. Excellent students.
If it’s done against Israel, it really shouldn’t be called “terrorist action”. If Israel can call it self defense, then so can the “terrorists”.
I am so tired of hearing about the Israelis and their cuckolded allies in the West.
Too much real news at antiwar.com beats the mostly fake US news of ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN and MSNBC Combined…! It’s necessary for an independent, not for profit news agency such as this one…!
Spot on! Antiwar excels at exposing lies and promoting truth and therein lays the way towards peace. I so enjoy the company and intellect here…
All of them are compromised. All. Newsweek, PBS, NPR. All. Turn on the TV, find all sorts of programs extolling the wonderfulness of Israel. Scheerpost.com has a piece on RFK, Jr., the extolling his virtues, ignoring his support for Israel, the genocide (killing, destroying medical facilities, destroying 40% of the farm lands of the Palestinians, restricting humanitarian supplies into Gaza). I did not read all of the article, just enough to nearly make my head explode.
Richard Medhurst analyses this strike:
BREAKING： Israel Bombs Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syriahttps://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c10L0BxcFrk
The embassy IS Iran, just as if an American embassy IS the U.S.
This will cause at least a regional war, maybe WW3 if the USA doesn’t abandon Israel to its own devices.
“US officials have acknowledged to the media that …Netanyahu might view a full-blown war in Lebanon as key to his political survival.” They did, but they know we are so stupid that we would not understand what that actually means. Get your own violins and tear glands ready for many of our children coming back home in body bags or with PTSD. I’m busy.
I see sign of desperation…!
That’s what the world reaps when there are criminals in power in some countries. They kill left and right to keep themselves in power.
Many Israelis manifest in public against B. Netanyahu and his criminal government but that is in vain.
That unlawful and uncivilized government keeps on its murderous killing.
Why is that government still represented at the United Nations?
Ah yes: because of Joe Biden’s veto at the Security Council.