Khamenei Threatens Retaliation Following Consulate Operation: Will the Response Come from Lebanon?

Following the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, calls for retaliation escalated yesterday in Tehran and Lebanon. In response, Israel issued a warning of a hefty price tag should threats against the Israeli state be carried out.

In its first official statement, Iran threatened Israel with a response that would bring “regret” for its bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, an attack that resulted in the death of seven senior Revolutionary Guard officers, including the commander of the Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, Mohammad Reza Zahedi. This sheds light on the danger of further escalation following the unprecedented attack.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, mourned Zahedi and his deputy, Mohammad Hadi Hajizadeh, in a statement on his official website, stating that “the vile Zionist entity will face punishment at the hands of our brave men, and the Zionists will regret this crime and its equivalents.”

Could the response “come at the appropriate time and place” from Lebanon?

Immediately following the consulate attack, Hezbollah issued a statement declaring that “Zahedi’s assassination will not go unpunished,” noting his longstanding support and sacrifices for the advancement of resistance work in Lebanon. The statement also mentioned that Zahedi “chose to stay away from his homeland” with his honorable family.

According to information, General Zahedi was the only non-Lebanese member of Hezbollah’s Shura Council. He resided in Beirut’s southern suburbs and saw a promotion in his military rank after the killing of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in a US airstrike on his convoy at Baghdad Airport in early 2020. Zahedi was assigned the Hezbollah file to ease the responsibilities placed on Soleimani’s successor, General Ismail Qaani.

Yesterday, Iranian media published photos taken by Zahedi’s son during a meeting between Nasrallah and the late general, though no date was specified for the meeting.

One of the most likely scenarios is that Iran’s response will be indirect, with Hezbollah taking the lead in escalation. This could involve intensified missile launches against Israeli targets or operations inside Israel. Alternatively, pro-Iranian militias in Syria may escalate by launching coordinated and intensified attacks on US military sites in Iraq and Syria, particularly in the Euphrates region.

Read the full article in arabic