Iran demands UN Security Council response to attack on embassy compound

Zahra Ershadi, Iran’s deputy representative to the UN, accused Israel of violating several international laws during a Monday attack on a building on the compound of Iran’s embassy in Damascus. In a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Ershadi called on member nations to condemn the attack, which she warned “could escalate tensions in the region and potentially spark further conflict involving other nations.”

What happened? Ershadi accused Israel of conducting airstrikes against a structure adjacent to Iran’s main embassy building in Syria, killing seven Iranians. She said the final death toll had not been calculated as some bodies were still buried under the rubble. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.

What did the United States have to say? U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood said that Syria had become a staging area for launching attacks elsewhere in the region. He said Iranian proxy forces had attacked U.S. forces in the region numerous times. He also noted that the nature and purpose of the building that was struck, which was not the main embassy building, had not been determined. He cited claims by Israel that the structure was used to house terrorist leaders. He added that the United States did not know about the attack before it occurred. He called on Iran not to escalate tensions in the region.

Has Iran said if it will carry out a unilateral response? Iran has promised that it will respond but has not provided details about the form that response will take. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will forcefully and wisely make the aggressor and lame-duck Zionist regime regret its latest crime,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. It added that Iran “reserves its legitimate and inherent right… to respond decisively to such terrorist acts.”

Dig deeper: Listen to Cal Thomas’ commentary on The World and Everything in It podcast about how Israel is in the midst of a war for its survival.