Suspected Israeli strike on diplomatic mission in Syria widely condemned, including by China

Rescuers work near the destroyed building of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1, 2024. At least 13 people were killed in the airstrikes on the building, according to the United Nations. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

An air attack that destroyed Iran’s consulate section in Damascus, Syria, and killed at least 13 people late on April 1 has been widely condemned as a violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty, and is seen as a possible trigger for escalating regional tensions amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The consulate building, in service for about 30 years and located next to the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, was attacked with missiles purportedly fired by Israel.

While neither the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office nor the Israel Defense Forces has commented on the airstrikes, The New York Times cited unnamed Israeli officials as confirming Israel’s role in the attack.

The attack killed Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Zahedi’s deputy, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, according to Iran’s state-run Tasnim News Agency.

This was the first military attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound, although Israeli airstrikes have hit Iran-related targets in Syria several times, including March 31 strikes that resulted in civilian casualties, Xinhua News Agency cited the Syrian Defense Ministry as saying.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the Israeli attack on Iran’s consulate in Syria was “a violation of all international obligations”.

In a phone conversation on April 1 with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, he said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has completely lost his mental balance” because of the “consecutive failures of the Israeli regime in Gaza”, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported.

Mekdad, who visited the attack site in Damascus, also strongly condemned Israel’s “aggression”, Xinhua reported.

In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Security Council President for April Vanessa Frazier on April 1, Zahra Ershadi, ambassador and charge d’affaires of Iran to the UN, called upon the Security Council to “take all necessary measures” to address “this egregious violation”.

“These horrific crimes and cowardly terrorist attacks are a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the foundational principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises,” Ershadi said in the letter, urging the UN to “ensure that those responsible for such criminal acts are swiftly brought to justice”.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran urges the Security Council to condemn this unjustified criminal act and terrorist attack perpetrated by the Israeli regime in the strongest terms possible,” the letter added.

On April 2, a UN emergency meeting saw broad condemnation of the suspected Israeli missile strikes on Iran’s diplomatic premises in Damascus. 

Among others, China’s representative to the UN strongly denounced the deadly airstrike that violated international law and claimed the lives of more than a dozen people.

“This attack seriously violated the United Nations Charter and international law, violated both Syria’s and Iran’s sovereignty, and was extremely vile in nature. China strongly condemns it,” Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, told the UN Security Council emergency meeting.

UN Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari reported to the Security Council that the attack killed at least five Iranian staff members, including top military advisers, with the total death toll rising to 13, including six Syrians.

Iranians attend an anti-Israel protest on Monday at Palestine Square in Teheran. Israeli airstrikes destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, 2024, Syrian and Iranian officials said, with a top Revolutionary Guard commander among eight reported to have been killed amid worsening regional tensions. (PHOTO / AFP)

Geng said he empathized with the Iranians as he recalled the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, which killed three Chinese journalists.

“We share the grief of the Iranian government and people at this time and express our deep sympathy and condolences to them,” he said.

“According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, an international treaty ensuring diplomats can perform their duties without interference from the host country’s laws, and the universally recognized basic norms of international relations, the security of diplomatic institutions is inviolable.”

Fears of escalating regional tensions have risen following the airstrike.

“The situation in the Middle East is already precarious,” Geng said.

He said Israel frequently carries out cross-border strikes against targets in Syria and Lebanon, “seriously violating the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the countries concerned and exacerbating tensions in the entire region”.

All speakers at the meeting except those of the United States, Britain, and France condemned the attacks in strong terms. 

At the meeting, Khiari noted growing concerns over the breach of the “inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises”, and underscored the need to respect the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states”. 

The situation in Syria, as described by Khiari, remains dire, with “six foreign armies operating on its territory”, exacerbating civilian hardships and pushing a peaceful resolution further away.

Specifically, Khiari highlighted a series of “increasingly lethal attacks” on Iran-affiliated targets in Syria, attributed to Israel, particularly since the onset of the conflict with Hamas in Gaza on Oct 7.

The UN’s appeal to the Security Council to “actively engage all concerned parties” underscores the critical need to avert further escalation and regional instability, said Khiari.

He called for “utmost restraint” and adherence to international law, including protections for civilians and infrastructure, trying to avoid a miscalculation spiraling into a wider conflict with “devastating consequences” for an already suffering civilian population across the Middle East.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the April 1 attack on Iranian diplomatic premises in Damascus, his spokesman said on April 2.

“The secretary-general reaffirms that the principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and personnel must be respected in all cases in accordance with international law,” Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, said in a statement.

Guterres also reminds all parties of the need to respect all their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law. He also repeats his calls on all concerned to avoid attacks that could harm civilians and damage civilian infrastructure, said the spokesman.

“The secretary-general further calls on all concerned to exercise utmost restraint and avoid further escalation,” said Dujarric.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on April 2 that Beijing condemns the attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria.

“The security of diplomatic missions brooks no violation, and Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be respected,” he said at a regular news conference in Beijing.

Wang added that amid the current volatile situation in the Middle East, China opposes any actions that could escalate tensions.

Meanwhile, Syrian and Iranian protesters burned flags of Israel and the US, blaming the latter for supporting Israel and calling for “forceful responses” to the attack. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the country has the right to retaliate and vowed on April 2 to take revenge for the attack.

Several other nations, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan, condemned the airstrikes.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry expressed in a statement its “categorical rejection of targeting diplomatic facilities for any justification and under any pretext”, adding that the attack was “a violation of international diplomatic laws and the rules of diplomatic immunity”.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said it considers the attack a “flagrant violation” of international agreements and diplomatic norms that “criminalize attacks on the premises of diplomatic missions”. It also underlined the need to provide proper protection for diplomatic and consular missions under the international law.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “We strongly condemn this unacceptable attack against the Iranian consular mission in Syria.”

Abdalfatah Asqool, a lecturer on international law at the University of Palestine, told China Daily that the attack on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Damascus was “a violation of sovereignty of both Iran and Syria”, as the land on which the attack took place is considered Iranian territory according to international law.

“According to international humanitarian law, this Israeli attack is classified as a crime of aggression,” he added.

The Israeli attack on Iran’s Damascus consulate section demonstrates the willingness of Israel to escalate the war on Gaza, said Jawaid Iqbal, chairman of the Department of West Asian and North African Studies at Aligarh Muslim University in India.

Given its ideological isolation, Israel has become more brazen in its military aggressiveness, receiving full support from Euro-Atlantic countries, but can draw attention to the illegality of Israeli actions and bring about international condemnation. 

Against the background of the political opposition to the Israeli “genocide” in Gaza, any military action by Iran and the Axis of Resistance will enjoy greater moral legitimacy than it had enjoyed before, said Iqbal.

Xinhua News Agency contributed to this story. Additional reporting by Zhao Jia in Beijing and Mike Gu in Hong Kong.

Contact the writers at jan@chinadailyapac.com