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Tehran slams ‘shameful’ Western silence vis-à-vis new Israeli aggression on Syria

This photo released by Syria’s official SANA news agency shows the aftermath of an Israeli missile strike, which hit residential areas in the capital Damascus and its vicinity, early Sunday, on February 19, 2023.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has vehemently condemned the Israeli regime’s deadly attack on targets in the Syrian capital of Damascus and its suburbs, denouncing as “shameful” the silence of Western countries regarding the repeated violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Spokesman Nasser Kana’ani made the remark on Sunday after Israeli missiles hit a number of residential buildings mostly in Kafr Sousa neighborhood in central Damascus, which left five people including a soldier dead and 15 civilians wounded.

The Syrian air defenses was said to have responded to the Israeli aggression by intercepting most of the missiles, with al-Mayadeen news agency reporting that the Israeli strike targeted also areas in Damascus countryside, including Tal al-Masih near the city of Shahba, north of al-Suwayda in southwestern Syria.

The top Iranian diplomat censured the Western government’s silence in the face of the repeated violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria by the Zionist regime as “shameful” and called on the international community and responsible organizations, in particular the UN Security Council, to show a “swift, serious and effective” reaction to the Israeli aggression.

The Israeli assault came just a day after Syrian state media outlets said as many as 53 people had been killed in an ambush carried out by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group near a central Syrian city.

“The fact that the new strikes by the Zionist regime occurred concurrently with attacks by the Daesh terrorist group against the Syrian nation indicates the link and coordination between the two terrorist entities, which is a natural and inherent connection,” Kana’ani said.

“The Syrian people have already been suffering from the aftermath of the recent destructive earthquake and these two entities are trying to inflict more pain and agony on the bereaved people,” he added.

Israel frequently carries out missile attacks on targets in Syria, mostly using the airspace of Lebanon or the occupied territories.

Syria has repeatedly complained to the UN over Israeli assaults, urging the Security Council to take action against Tel Aviv’s crimes. The calls have, however, fallen on deaf ears.

In early November 2022, Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal Mekdad emphasized that his country will definitely give a crushing response to such acts of aggression at some point in the future.

Iraqi leader urges ‘serious stance’ against Israeli attacks

Ammar al-Hakim, the Iraqi Shia cleric and head of National Wisdom Movement (Hikma), said in a statement on Sunday that the Israeli regime’s repeated targeting of Syria requires a “serious stance” by the international community.

"We strongly condemn the blatant attack committed by the Zionist entity on Syria in Damascus, which killed a number of people and injured many others," Hakim was quoted as saying by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

"The repetition of the targeting requires a serious stance by the international community and organizations to reject this aggression, which clearly and blatantly violates international rules and laws,” he added.

Syria's health ministry said five people were killed in the strike, including one soldier, while fifteen others were wounded, some of whom in critical condition.


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