‘True Promise’ Showed Era of Hit and Run Is Over, Lebanese Analyst Says

IQNA – A Lebanese political analyst said Iran’s recent attack on Israel was a response to the Zionist regime’s acts of aggression not a declaration of war.

On April 1, the Israeli regime committed a terrorist attack against Iran’s diplomatic premises in the Syrian capital Damascus.

The Israeli attack resulted in the martyrdom of Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), his deputy, General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, and five of their accompanying officers.

Retaliating against the attack, the IRGC targeted the occupied territories late on Saturday with a barrage of drones and missiles. The retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation True Promise, has inflicted damage on Israeli military bases across the occupied territories.

Following the reprisal, Iran both relayed the message that it viewed the matter as “concluded,” and also warned of a “bigger” response in case the regime or its allies target Iran.

Speaking in an interview with IQNA, Talal Atrisi said the Iranian “Operation True Promise” proved that the era of hit and run for Israel is over.

This Iranian operation was a response to the Zionist regime’s attacks and acts of aggression targeting Iranian figures and forces in Syria and elsewhere, he stated.

It had a message of deterrence to the enemy, stressing that no more attacks on Iranian interests will be allowed, Atrisi said.

In other words, he noted, there is a new equation at work and that is, any attack will be met with similar and proportional response, he stressed.

Asked whether Iran can cite the right to self-defense in Article 51 of the UN Charter, the Lebanese analyst said international law, including the Geneva Convention, has underlined protection for diplomatic missions and attacking the Iranian consulate in Damascus gives Iran the right to respond and no one can accuse it of attacking a member of the United Nations.

As for the silence of international organizations on the Israeli regime’s crimes and acts of aggression, including the attack on the Iranian diplomatic mission, he said such organizations, including the UN and so-called human rights groups, should be ashamed of themselves.  

Elsewhere in the interview, Atrisi referred to how Arab and Muslim nations have welcomed the Iranian attack on Israel, saying they had been waiting for such a moment for a long time.

No country in the region had dared to do so but Iran did it and changed the equation, he stated.

4210522