Does an embassy become a legitimate target if it’s being used as a hub for alleged espionage, regime change, and other nefarious activities? The Israelis think so. Of course, that would render many U.S. embassies fair game. From Con Coughlin at gatestoneinstitute.org:
- Iran’s decision to rely on groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas to prosecute its war against Israel has resulted in the Israelis regularly having to retaliate with air strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria and Lebanon in an attempt to disrupt their terrorist infrastructure.
- Since October 7, the consulate served as Tehran’s main regional command centre, helping to supervise the activities of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance”.
- [A]s recent events have indicated, Israel is not just fighting a war against the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists who committed the terrible atrocities on October 7. It is in an existential battle for survival against the Iranian regime and its many proxies which, if left unchecked, will continue seeking to achieve their ultimate goal of destroying the Jewish state.
The bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria was not, as the Iranians claim, simply an attack on a blameless diplomatic mission.
It was a carefully targeted strike on the headquarters of the expansive terrorist network that Tehran has established throughout the Middle East.
Vladimir Putin: If the United States wants to come to the field to support Israel, we will not sit idle here, the smallest attack by the United States on Iranian soil will force us to support Iran. (h/t-HRS)