By Abayomi Azikiwe
A deadly airstrike on the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus, Syria has prompted outrage throughout the West Asia region.
This attack continues a long line of atrocities committed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the United States Pentagon.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) identified two of the deceased as Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, along with his deputy General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi being among the seven people killed in the IDF attack.
Washington and Wall Street are the largest backers of the settler-colonial regime which has occupied Palestine for more than three-quarters of a century. Despite the façade of disagreements between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden, weapons are continuing to flow into Israel for the genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza and throughout the entire Occupied Territories.
Iran demanded a hearing before the United Nations Security Council on April 2 where Deputy Ambassador Zahra Ershadi spoke for the government in Tehran. The leadership inside Iran have vowed to retaliate for the Israeli bombing of its embassy in Syria.
A report published by Press TV on April 2 about the Security Council hearing explained that:
“Addressing the event on Tuesday in New York, the U.S., Iran’s mission to the UN called on the world body to categorically denounce Israel’s violation of international regulations. Zahra Ershadi, Iran’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said Israel is seeking to escalate tensions in the region while avoiding full responsibility for its actions. She said the regime defies Security Council resolutions and shows disregard for its international obligations.
‘She added that Monday’s crime also clearly breached the basic principle of diplomatic and consular immunity, as well as the 1961 Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes.”
Obviously, the Zionist state has no regard for international law and norms governing relations between governments. A Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza has been disregarded by the Netanyahu administration. Although the U.S. Ambassador Greenfield abstained during the vote, the White House and State Department decided that it would not be opportune to veto yet another ceasefire resolution.
Political opinions related to the Biden administration’s pivotal role in the Gaza genocide has seriously damaged its bid for reelection. Mass demonstrations throughout the U.S. and within other imperialist states has illustrated the growing discontent over the unconditional support provided to the State of Israel.
The deaths in Damascus did not occur within a political vacuum. Inside Gaza tens of thousands of people have been massacred by the IDF including children, women, the elderly and infirm. Hospitals have been bombed into rubble along with places of worship, schools, universities, businesses, transportation infrastructure, residential areas and aid distribution centers.
Nonetheless, the Palestinian people have remained determined to resist the occupation and its most recent military onslaught. Ten different brigades are fighting the IDF in the Gaza Strip inflicting casualties and damage to military hardware.
The Hezbollah resistance movement based in southern Lebanon has been engaging the IDF in solidarity with Gaza. Yemen has imposed its own blockade on Israeli ports prompting numerous airstrikes by the Pentagon and the British Royal Air Force. Other resistance organizations in Syria and Iraq are launching missiles and drones at U.S. and Israeli targets.
This persistent resistance by the Palestinians and their allies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen has caused frustrations in Tel Aviv and Washington. In their efforts to maintain Israel as an outpost for imperialist interests in West Asia and North Africa, the ruling class in the U.S. has sought to suppress criticism related to its foreign policy on the Palestinian question.
A clear indication of the will to be free and independent of imperialist influence was a conversation held between Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Syrian counterpart President Bashar al-Assad. The two leaders agreed that the attacks in Damascus on the Iranian embassy are acts of desperation by the Zionist regime. Both the Iranian and Syrian presidents committed their governments to continue supporting the resistance in Palestine and throughout the entire region.
However, failed efforts by the Biden administration, Britain and the European Union (EU) to shift the narrative on the Palestinian situation, has been countered by the Republic of South Africa which filed a lawsuit during late 2023 charging Tel Aviv with violations of the Genocide Convention. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the charges of genocide by the African National Congress (ANC) government in South Africa are plausible.
Each military and political setback on the part of Tel Aviv and their imperialist facilitators will breed further acts of state-sponsored terrorism aimed at dampening and degrading the capacity and willingness to struggle among the oppressed. Nonetheless, if developments over the last six months are an indication of the mood among the people in West Asia and internationally, the ability of imperialism to maintain its hegemony in the region will be seriously weakened.
Security Council Session Hears Condemnations of Israel
During the discussions before the UN Security Council on April 2, several governments spoke out against Tel Aviv. Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian issued a statement calling upon the Security Council to denounce Israel for its actions in Damascus.
The same Press TV article quoted above explains the session emphasizing:
“Moscow said Israel’s actions are set to fuel the ongoing regional conflict further and must immediately stop. Slamming the ‘flagrant violation’ of Syria’s sovereignty, UN envoy Vasily Nebenzia told a Security Council meeting that Russia was ‘of the view that such aggressive actions by Israel are designed to further fuel the conflict. They are absolutely unacceptable and must stop.’ China’s envoy also condemned Israel’s attack as a grave violation of the UN Charter and international law and a breach of the sovereignty of both Syria and Iran. The Security Council session was held at the request of Russia over the Israeli strike on Tuesday afternoon.”
Tel Aviv and Washington have remained quiet about the attack on the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital. This approach to foreign policy can only spark more widespread opposition inside and outside the U.S.
Palestine, Iran and Presidential Politics
In a recent Gallup Poll of adults and registered voters in the U.S., only 27% of those surveyed approved of Biden’s policies in Palestine and throughout the West Asia region. Even among Democratic Party voters, only 47% approved of his handling of the situation in Gaza and other territories in neighboring countries.
Many people today are questioning the historic approach to Palestine by the U.S. seeing that it is only resulting in more deaths, destruction and displacement. In regard to Iran, tensions have remained between Tehran and Washington since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Iran has weathered a consistent storm of sanctions, military strikes, diplomatic antagonism and psychological warfare by successive administrations in the White House and within Congress, irrespective of party affiliations. During this 45-year period of attempted destabilization and overthrow of the Iranian government, the country has grown in influence and infrastructure.
An Axis of Resistance spanning the West Asia territories from Palestine to Yemen and Iran now poses a serious threat to the imperialist domination of the region. Anti-imperialists, antiwar organizers and peace activists as a whole must view the crisis in Palestine as part and parcel of the struggle against imperialism.
Despite the negative U.S. media propaganda against Iran, Yemen, Syria and Iraq, these states have an inherent right to self-determination and sovereignty. It should not be the role of the ruling class interests in the U.S. to impose governments on the peoples of other geopolitical regions.
This hegemonic thrust by imperialism has already brought about tens of thousands of deaths and millions of civilians displaced since October 7. People around the globe have no alternative other than escalating their protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and the military disengagement from the entire region.
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