Barbara Slavin: The Attack on Damascus Was One of Israel's Boldest Strikes Against Iranian Targets

Barbara Slavin, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, described the attack attributed to Israel on the Iranian consulate in Damascus as "one of the boldest attacks" by Israel against Iranian targets in an interview with the Persian section of Voice of America. Following the attack on Monday, April 1, several senior members of the IRGC, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the senior commander of the IRGC Quds Force (the IRGC branch in Syria and Lebanon), Hossein Aminollah, the chief of staff of the IRGC Quds Force, and Mohammad Hadi Haj Rahimi, a close friend and deputy of Zahedi, were killed. Slavin noted that the killing of this senior IRGC commander responsible for Syria and Lebanon is undoubtedly a very bold operation, especially considering the situation we have witnessed over the past six months. She added that the Islamic Republic's reaction is still unclear, stating that Monday's attack was a "fatal blow" and could be compared to the killing of Qassem Soleimani (the former commander of the IRGC Quds Force) in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in 2019. In another part of her interview, the senior fellow mentioned that targeting a diplomatic building and the Islamic Republic's claim that it was a consulate has crossed many unwritten red lines between the two countries in a long-standing shadow war. Slavin also stated that Israel sent a message to Iran with this attack, indicating that its support for the proxy groups it calls the resistance axis is not a suitable way to defend Iran and its officials, and ironically makes the Islamic Republic more vulnerable. She emphasized that if we are to reach an end to the Gaza war, Israel is taking advantage of the opportunity to inflict fatal blows and may be seeking to send a message to Iran to convince Hamas to accept a ceasefire under conditions that may not be in its favor. When asked whether a broader reaction from the Islamic Republic's proxy groups across the region might be seen, she replied, "The main question is whether the Islamic Republic will get involved or not," referencing the IRGC's attack on the Ain al-Assad base in Iraq after Soleimani's killing, noting that the Iranians had warned Iraq beforehand, resulting in no American casualties, only some injuries. She pointed out that the U.S. sent a message to the Islamic Republic, indicating that it was unaware of the Israeli attack on Damascus before it occurred, suggesting that this message might be aimed at calming tensions between Iranian-backed forces and American forces in the Middle East. The senior fellow noted that Iran wants to respond in some way but may wait for the right opportunity to do so. She considered the U.S. message to Tehran after the Damascus attack significant, stating, "I believe the U.S. still wants to prevent the escalation of war in the region and is in discussions with Israel, trying to convince them not to go to Rafah."