Iran says "important" message sent to U.S. after Israeli attack on Iranian mission

TEHRAN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Tuesday that the country had sent an "important" message to the U.S. government after Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate building in Syria.

He made the remarks in a post on social media platform X, a few hours after Israeli warplanes launched a missile strike against the consular section of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday.

The Israeli attack "killed a number of Iran's official military advisers in Syria," Amir-Abdollahian said, adding that Director-General of the Department of America at the Iranian Foreign Ministry Issa Kameli summoned an official of the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests in Iran, at 00:45 a.m. local time on Tuesday (2115 GMT on Monday).

During the meeting, the Iranian Foreign Ministry official elaborated on the dimensions of Israel's "terrorist attack and crime" and highlighted the U.S. government's responsibility, Amir-Abdollahian said.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said on Monday that two of its veteran commanders, along with five officers accompanying them, were killed in the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate.

Meanwhile, Amir-Abdollahian has called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to condemn an Israeli attack on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria.

He made the remarks in a phone call with OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha on Monday following the missile strike, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry early Tuesday.

Amir-Abdollahian asked the OIC to take appropriate and immediate action and measures against the Israeli "crime."

The OIC chief, for his part, strongly condemned the "new Israeli crime" against diplomatic missions, expressing solidarity with the Iranian government and people.

He also extended condolences and sympathy to the families of those killed in the "criminal" attack and highlighted the OIC's responsibility regarding the issue.

In another development, Iran's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Zahra Ershadi, called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in the wake of the Israeli "aggression" against the Iranian consulate in Syria, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.

In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Vanessa Frazier, UN Security Council president for the month of April, Ershadi condemned Israel's deadly "terrorist" attack that leveled the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus.

She stressed that Iran reserved its "legitimate and inherent" right based on international law and the UN Charter to respond decisively to such "terrorist" actions.

Calling the "horrifying" crime a threat to regional peace and security, she said such "dire crimes" had far-reaching international consequences and could lead to the escalation of tensions in the region, potentially fanning the flames of conflicts.

Ershadi urged the UN Security Council to condemn in the strongest terms Israel's "criminal action and terrorist" attack.

Iran demanded the UN Security Council take every necessary measure, including holding an urgent meeting, to deal with the conspicuous violation, prevent future "aggressive" actions that could jeopardize the security and safety of diplomatic missions and ensure that those responsible for such "criminal acts" were brought to justice, she added.

Speaking to reporters in Damascus on Monday, Iran's Ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari said the airstrikes were carried out by Israel's F-35 fighter jets on the Iranian consulate's five-story building located near the country's embassy in the Syrian capital, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported.

By carrying out the attack, Israel had crossed an international red line, Akbari said, vowing that Iran would give a befitting response to the "terrorist" move at the right time and place.