The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is set to hold an emergency meeting following a deadly Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus, a Russian diplomat says.
Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said the session will take place at 03:00 p.m. New York time (1900 GMT) on Tuesday.
“After Israel’s airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus …, Iranians have turned to the UN Security Council to condemn this action. Following their letter we have requested an open briefing of the UN Security Council,” he said in a social media post.
After Israel’s airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus today, Iranians have turned to the UN Security Council to condemn this action.
Following their letter we have requested an open briefing of the UN Security Council. The Maltese presidency has scheduled it for 3:00 PM…
— Dmitry Polyanskiy 🇺🇳 (@Dpol_un) April 2, 2024
In a letter sent to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UNSC President Vanessa Frazier, Iran’s mission to the United Nations called on the world body to denounce the Israeli regime’s “heinous and abhorrent terrorist attack” that killed seven military advisors of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
The strike was a “flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the foundational principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises,” read the letter authored by Iran’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Zahra Ershadi.
It carried “far-reaching international implications” that can exacerbate regional tensions.
“The aggressor Zionist regime bears full responsibility for its consequences,” the letter further read, stressing that the Islamic Republic “reserves its legitimate and inherent right under international law and the United Nations Charter to take a decisive response to such reprehensible acts.”
Israeli warplanes bombed the Iranian consulate, situated next to the embassy building in Damascus’s Mezzeh district, on Monday afternoon.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Israel’s biggest supporter, the United States, should be “answerable” over the terrorist attack that violated all international obligations and conventions.
In a separate statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said that Tehran “reserves the right to carry out a reaction and will decide on the type of response and the punishment of the aggressor.”
