2024-04-02T06:27:22+00:00
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/ The Axios website, quoting an American official, confirmed on Tuesday that the United States “informed Iran that it had no role or prior knowledge” of the strike that targeted the Iranian consulate in Syria, according to what was reported by the American “Al Hurra” channel website.
Suspected Israeli warplanes bombed the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Monday, with Tehran saying that the bombing claimed the lives of 7 military advisors, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Revolutionary Guard.
The American website “Axios” quoted a spokesman for the National Security Council as saying that the United States “had no role in the (Israeli) strike and we were not aware of it ahead of time.”
The senior American official added that the United States “informed Iran directly about this.”
According to Axios, the “rare message” shows, as he described it, that “the administration of President Joe Biden is deeply concerned that the Israeli strike may lead to a regional escalation, and the resumption of pro-Iranian militias’ attacks against American forces.”
Following the strike, Iran pledged revenge, and accused Israel of “violating all international agreements,” as official Iranian media quoted the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that Iran “reserves the right to respond to the Israeli attack,” and that it will determine “the type of response and punishment against the aggressor.” “.
Iran has not directly intervened in the current conflict in the Gaza Strip, and mostly relies on its proxies in the region.
Israel does not usually comment on attacks launched by its forces in Syria. An Israeli army spokesman said: “We do not comment on reports in foreign media,” according to Reuters.
Israeli intelligence had long been tracking Zahedi, who was responsible for arming and coordinating with Lebanese Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian militias in Lebanon and Syria, according to Axios.
Axios quoted an Israeli official as saying, “An operational window to target him (Zahedi) was only opened in recent days.”
The American website added, “The Israelis did not inform the United States that they were planning to bomb the consulate building.”
Israeli and American officials told the site that Israel “notified the Biden administration a few minutes before its air force carried out the strike, but did not request the American green light.”
An American official stated that the Israeli notification to the United States “was not detailed, and arrived when military aircraft were already in the air.”
In the hours that followed the bombing, several drone attacks were launched from Syria on Israel, and were intercepted by Israeli army air defense systems.
A senior American official warned, according to Axios, of the possibility of “an escalation in the fighting between Israel, Iran and its proxies.”
A senior Israeli official told the website, “The Israeli army is on high alert, in anticipation of retaliatory attacks by militias allied with Iran in Syria.”
The devastating war broke out in Gaza with an attack launched by Hamas on October 7, prompting the latter to respond by threatening to “eliminate” the movement. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged bombardments on an almost daily basis at the Lebanese border.
Strikes attributed to Israel were also launched on targets in Syria, most of which were military and others belonging to Iranian-backed militants, including Hezbollah. But Israel does not officially recognize this.
The bombing came on Monday, three days after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced Israeli strikes in northern Syria, which killed 53 people, including 38 soldiers and 7 Hezbollah members.
