Emergency and security personnel extinguish a fire at the site of strikes which hit a building annexed to the Iranian embassy in Syria's capital Damascus, on April 1, 2024. (Credit: Louai Bashara/AFP)
BEIRUT — Lebanon's Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned on Tuesday the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday and said that "targeting diplomatic headquarters and missions is a violation of international law."
Airstrikes, attributed to Israel, targeted the Iranian embassy's consular annex in Damascus on Monday, killing a top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and six other members of the force. Israel has increased its airstrikes targeting Iran and its proxies in Syria since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates strongly condemns the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus and emphasizes that targeting diplomatic headquarters and missions is a violation of international law and a serious violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, which guarantees the immunity and inviolability of diplomatic premises," reads the Lebanese foreign ministry's statement published on X.
The ministry also expressed its "sincere condolences to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the families of the victims" and wished "a speedy recovery to the wounded and injured."
"This dangerous escalation in violation of international laws and norms inevitably threatens regional and international peace and security," the ministry added.
On Tuesday, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi condemned the strike, saying the "cowardly crime will not go unanswered."