The Iranian foreign minister arrived today in the Syrian capital Damascus for talks with Syrian officials. This comes a week after the attack on the Iranian consulate attributed to Israel, which Tehran vowed to take revenge on, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
The attack on April 1 leveled the Iranian consulate and killed 16 people, including 7 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, two of whom were high-ranking officers.
Tehran, which backs the Syrian government, has vowed to retaliate for the attack, which has heightened regional tensions amid the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas.
The head of Iranian diplomacy Hossein Amir Abdolakhian arrived in Damascus from the Sultanate of Oman – a state that plays an intermediary role between Iran and the West.
His Omani counterpart Badr Al Busaidi yesterday called for de-escalation in the region.
The Iranian foreign minister is expected to be received by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and talk to his Syrian counterpart Faisal Meklad, with whom he is to hold a joint press conference, local media reported.
According to the Syrian Minister of Information, a new building of the Iranian consulate will be opened during Abdolakhian's visit.
The person close to the authorities in “Al Watan“ announced that these meetings will be “mainly dedicated“ of the reactions to the attack on the consulate.
Iranian authorities have not given any information on when or how they will respond to the strike on the consulate. Yesterday, however, a military adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that after the strike in Damascus, no Israeli embassy would be safe anymore. place.
The revenge operation will be carried out at the right time, with the necessary precision and planning and with maximum damage to the enemy so that he regrets his actions, General Mohammad Bagheri assured on Saturday – Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.
General Bagheri speaks at the funeral in Iran of one of the slain high-ranking Iranian military – Mohammad Reza Zahedi, commander of an elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for operations abroad.
Iran blames its archenemy Israel for carrying out the strike, but the Jewish state has not claimed responsibility.
Since the start of the war in the country in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria against Syrian regime positions, pro-Iranian groups and Iranian military targets.