Khamenei Threatens Israel: It Must Be Punished and Will Be Punished

Iranian leader Ali Khamenei emphasized today that Israel "must be punished and will be punished" for its attack on the Iranian consulate complex in Syria. In a speech marking Eid al-Fitr, he stated, "The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished, and it will be punished." Airstrikes, attributed by Syrian and Iranian officials to Israel, destroyed the Iranian consulate headquarters in Damascus, resulting in the deaths of two leaders, one of whom was the highest military official in Iran in Syria, along with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard reported that seven of its members, including Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahdi and Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, were killed in the strike. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the death toll from the strike targeting the Iranian consulate in Damascus reached 16. Over the past years, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria, primarily targeting Iranian sites and those of Hezbollah, including warehouses and shipments of weapons and ammunition, as well as locations of the Syrian army.