On Monday, Syria accused Israel of conducting an attack on Iran’s diplomatic consulate in Damascus, the capital city of Syria. According to the Syrian Ministry of Defense, the alleged attack took place at 5:00 PM local time, involving numerous missiles fired from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Ministry asserted that several of these missiles were brought down, but remaining missiles allegedly demolished the consulate completely, causing the loss of all lives present in the building. Nonetheless, the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran’s state-run news agency, contradicted this assertion by stating that all diplomatic staff are safe.
Nasser Kanaani, the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, condemned the attack, stating it as a gross violation of international law. His assertion was based on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, which deems diplomatic staff as inviolable. However, it is significant to note that the explicit language of the Vienna Convention applies mostly to the sending and receiving states in diplomatic relations, not necessarily to a third party. But on the other hand, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons exhibits explicit protection against the attack on the official premises, private accommodation or modes of transport of diplomatic staff. The text within the Convention’s articles clarifies these provisions being applicable to all member states. Israel, Iran and Syria are indeed signatories or parties to these two conventions.
The destruction of the Iranian consulate isn’t an isolated incident, but is one among several recent attacks happening in Syria. The Syrian Ministry of Defense has reported two fatalities due to Israeli airstrikes in Damascus on Sunday, and near Aleppo on Thursday. Syrian officials have accused Israel of attempting to target civilians through these attacks.
Israel has not yet commented on these alleged attacks.
These incidents feed into a larger narrative of the escalating violence in Syria, which has become a concern for the international community. A report from the United Nations as of March 11th calls for immediate action to curb this escalation. The report expresses concern that the conflict in Gaza between the Iranian-backed Hamas and Israel might overflow into Syria, who is both a political and military ally of Iran.