World War Three fears ignited after ‘Israeli strike’ takes out Iran’s top commanders
The bombing could change the direction of the conflict in the Middle East in the coming months.
Fears of a conflict in the Middle East which could ignite World War Three have intensified after Iran accused Israel of bombing the Iranian Embassy in Damascus.
Away from Vladimir Putin’s threats to Nato and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s pledges to build more nuclear weapons in 2024, attention is now on the air strike on the consulate in the Syrian capital.
Footage circulating online shows the destruction of a building next door in the Mezzeh district, just a few meters from the Embassy of Canada.
Israeli F-35 fighter jets came from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, Syria’s defence ministry reported.
Emergency workers were seen clambering atop the rubble searching for survivors in the hours after Monday’s bombardment.
International experts have since warned that Israel’s alleged actions could lead to a all-out war in the region.
Who were the targets of the Israeli air strike?
Seven Iranian military advisers, including three senior commanders, were killed in the attack.
General Mohammed Reza Zahedi, a commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), was named among the victims.
Iranian state media reported that he was the target of Israel’s attack.
The 63-year-old previously commanded the Air Force and Ground Force, and was one of the top commanders of the al-Quds Force, Iran’s foreign intelligence and paramilitary wing.
Zahedi was a prominent figure in the IRGC’s hierarchy. His assassination is believed to be the biggest hit on the ranks since the death of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general who was killed by a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport in January 2020.
Senior commander Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi was also among the dead after Monday’s strike.
He was Zahedi’s deputy and the deputy of coordination of al-Quds Force.
A member of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hussein Youssef, also died in the attack, a spokesperson for the militant group confirmed today.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two Syrians were killed in that attack.
Meanwhile, two police officers who were guarding the consulate were among the wounded.
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Israel has long targeted Iran’s military installations in Syria and those of its proxies, but this was the first time it allegedly hit the vast embassy compound itself.
What has been the response from Iran?
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has not declared responsibility for the attack – though it rarely does.
In the hours after, Israel said the building in Damascus is not an official consulate, but a military hub for the Iranian regime, insinuating that is it fair game for its jets.
The Israeli military said it does not comment on foreign media reports.
Iran has vowed to retaliate after pointing the finger directly at Israel for targeting its embassy complex in the Syrian capital.
Supreme leader Khamenei promised to make Israel ‘regret the crime and others like it,’ adding that Israel ‘will be punished’.
‘The Zionist regime will be punished by the hands of our brave men. We will make it regret this crime and others it has committed,’ he said.
In a post on X, Khamenei’s political advisor Ali Shamkhani said the US ‘remains directly responsible, whether or not it was aware of the intention to carry out this attack’.
Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, who was not injured in the strike, said the flattened building housed his residence.
He could be seen exiting the main embassy building on Tuesday with his security guards.
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi said: ‘Having failed to destroy the will of the resistance front, the Zionist regime (Israel) has put blind assassinations back on its agenda to save itself.
‘It must know that it will never achieve its goals and that this cowardly crime will not go unanswered.’
Could this spark World War Three?
Until now, Iran has carefully avoided direct conflict with Israel while continuing to back its proxies against the US and Israel.
But this bombing could change the direction of the conflict in the Middle East in the coming months.
Iran’s UN mission described it as a ‘flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the foundational principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises.’
It urged the UN Security Council to condemn the attack and said Iran reserved the right ‘to take a decisive response’.
Experts said there was no doubt that Iran would retaliate.
Charles Lister, Syria expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said on X that it was a ‘huge development’ and a ‘major escalation’, which could lead to attacks on US bases.
He added: ‘Since the February 7 US strike in Baghdad, we have had no confirmed Iran proxy attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria.
‘It is quite likely that freeze could now end. The IRGC has often used US “soft targets” in Iraq and Syria as one form of retaliation for Israel’s actions.
‘For months, Iranian ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and suicide drones have targeted Israeli US targets in Iraq, Syria, the Gulf and Israel itself.
‘But they are all launched from outside Iran’s territory. Could that now change? Or will Iran hit targets in the KRG again?
‘At the end of the day, Israel’s strike today hit at the heart of the IRGC-QF’s most sensitive frontline – and inside Iran’s Embassy compound, no less.
‘A response is guaranteed. The question is whether it’ll target Israel, Israelis, US regional assets or something else.’
But Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC Research at non-profit United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), stressed that such ‘high-value’ strikes on Iranian commanders will not lead to a global war.
‘Ignore all the takes by “experts” on how the killing of the IRGC terror commander will result in direct war/strikes against Israel,’ he said.
‘The IRGC neither has the doctrine nor the capabilities for direct war with Israel, especially when domestic instability in Iran is as high as it currently is.’
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