The Syrian Foreign Ministry said that Israel’s persistence in its attacks on Syria and other countries “indicates the frantic pursuit of a new escalation in the region,” while Iran called for “deterrent and serious measures” to confront Israeli crimes.
The comments from Damascus and Tehran follow an Israeli attack, which Syrian state media called “the most violent in years,” which targeted the area around the town of Masyaf in the Hama countryside in western Syria earlier on Monday, killing 16 people and wounding more than 40.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “the unlimited support for the entity from the United States and Western countries encourages it to continue its crimes.”
The statement warned against the continuation of what it called international silence regarding Israel’s disregard for international law, calling on countries around the world to condemn Israeli aggression and show solidarity with Syria “in seeking to end systematic Israeli attacks and crimes.”
According to the statement, “Syria reaffirms its firm right to defend its territorial sovereignty and liberate its occupied lands by all legitimate means guaranteed by international law.”
Iranian Denial
For its part, the Iranian Foreign Ministry denied reports that an Iran-linked center was targeted in Syria, stressing that Israel’s attempts to link any events in the occupied Palestinian territories to Iran were attempts to evade the truth.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the international community must “take serious deterrent measures in the face of the scale of the crimes committed by the Zionist entity, and that the time has come for the entity’s supporters to stop arming it.”
Syrian media reported 15 Israeli raids launched in two batches, the first from Lebanese airspace and the second from the waters of the Mediterranean Sea off Tartus.
Reuters cited intelligence sources as saying the bombing targeted a Syrian military research center for the production of chemical weapons, which is believed to include a team of Iranian military experts involved in weapons production.
For its part, the official Israeli channel quoted sources as saying that “the air force launched five raids yesterday evening and at dawn today on sites inside Syria,” adding that “the targeted sites in Syria include a center for developing weapons of mass destruction in Syria.” Masyaf, Hama,” according to its claims.
Over the past few years, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syria as part of what it sees as a campaign to prevent Iran from establishing a military presence there, while Syrian authorities have repeatedly vowed to respond without implementing the measure on the ground.
In early April, an Israeli raid targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing Iranian military advisers, prompting Tehran to retaliate with unprecedented strikes targeting Israel.