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Iranian embassy in Ireland says attack on Israel ‘legitimate and proportionate’

Iran says it had awaited condemnation for Israeli strike on its consulate in Syria by UN Security Council but this had been blocked by US, UK and France

Parts of an Iranian missile that was fired at Israel in a pickup truck outside Arad, Israel, on Sunday. Photograph: Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times

Jack White
Mon Apr 15 2024 - 18:41

Iran has said its attack on Israel was a “legitimate and proportionate” response to the targeting of its consulate in Syria, but warned of the potential for more severe action if the conflict escalated.

In a statement Iran’s embassy in Dublin said it had awaited condemnation for the Israeli strike, which killed seven of its military officers and personnel, from the UN National Security Council, but that this had been blocked by the US, UK and France.

“Therefore…Iran carried out a series of military strikes on Israeli military objects from which the F35 bombers were launched in the attack on the Iranian embassy building in Damascus,” it said.

“Iran’s response [to Israel] was legitimate and proportionate, and could have been completely avoided had the UN Security Council condemned the Israeli regime’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.”

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The statement said that while Iran considered the matter closed, it would react to any further Israeli force.

It said it did not want an escalation in the conflict in Gaza, and also claimed many of its citizens had been “assassinated” by Israel inside and outside of Iran, particularly in the last six months.

Earlier an Iranian diplomat to Ireland said the US and other countries were informed ahead of its “limited” strike on Israel on Saturday. Iran launched more than 330 projectiles towards Israel overnight on Saturday, in retaliation for Israel attacking its embassy compound in Syria on April 1st which killed several military officials.

Chargé d’affaires of the Iranian embassy to Ireland, Dr Kazem Sharif Kazemi, said Iran did not wish to carry out a “surprise attack”, adding that it informed the US and “other countries” of its impending attack on Israel days before it struck.

He said Iran gave the UN Security Council 12 days to “make decisions and condemn the attack” on its embassy in Damascus at the beginning of April. “Iran, for deterrence, and especially for peace and security, took this very limited military exercise on the military objectives”.

Mr Sharif Kazemi said the attack as limited as Iran predicted the attack would be “shut down” by the US and its allies. He said Iran has shown restraint and patience over the past six months despite Iranian nationals being killed in air strikes in Syria.

“But this time Iran’s diplomatic mission has been berated and targeted,” he said, speaking on RTÉ's News at One. “All military action has been finished,” he said, however warned that if there was retaliation, “Iran won’t wait 12 days for that”.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has since strongly condemned Iran’s “reckless and large-scale attack on Israel”.

“I urge all sides to show restraint now and to avoid any escalation in military action and the devastation that would cause,” he said.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the scale and intensity of the attack represented a “flagrant threat” to international peace and security, and was “utterly unacceptable”.

“It does nothing to help the cause of the Palestinian people or bring us closer to an end to the suffering in Gaza,” he said.

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