Israel has suspended diplomatic work in India’s embassy in New Delhi and a consulate in Mumbai for “security reasons” as Iran has vowed to take revenge against an Israeli terrorist attack on the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic mission in Syria.
In a precautionary move, Israel closed down its diplomatic presence in India on Friday as part of an order issued to Israeli embassies across the world with some countries believed to be more vulnerable, the Week magazine quoted sources as saying.
They added that no decision has been taken yet on whether the Israeli premises in New Delhi and Mumbai would be open as usual in the coming week.
Israel has withdrawn its ambassadors and evacuated embassies in about 28 countries amid a high alert that had been sounded by the Israeli foreign ministry in coordination with Israel’s so-called internal security service, Shin Bet.
The Israeli diplomats fear that Iran’s retaliation may range from attacks on the embassy compounds, on diplomats and on Israeli children who go to international schools.
On April 1, Israeli warplanes bombed the Consular Section of the Iranian Embassy in the Mezzeh neighborhood in the Syrian capital Damascus.
A senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Quds Force, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and his deputy General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi were among the seven Iranian martyrs of the terrorist attack.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Israel will receive a slap in the face for its terrorist attack.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi also vowed punishment for those responsible for Israel’s terrorist attack.
On Saturday, during the funeral ceremony of Major General Zahedi, Iran’s highest-ranking military commander Major General Mohammad Baqeri said the recent Israeli aggression on the Iranian diplomatic facilities in Damascus amounts to the regime’s lunacy and suicide.
According to the US media, Washington had intelligence information that Iran was preparing for a “significant” attack that would target Israeli or US assets and that such an attack was believed to be “inevitable”.
Although it was unknown from where Iran will conduct its retaliatory move, reports say it is expected to be launched within the week and would include a “swarm of loitering drones and cruise missiles”
Sources say that India is one of the key locations that could become the target for a terrorist attack, adding that adequate steps are being taken to protect Israeli diplomats and their families and secure Israeli assets on its soil.
