ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Tuesday strongly condemned Israel’s “irresponsible” attack on the consular annex of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, terming it as a “major escalation” in an already volatile region.
Israeli air strikes destroyed the Iranian embassy’s consular annex in Damascus on Monday, Syrian and Iranian officials confirmed, with a top Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander among seven members the force said were killed.
The recent attack has given rise to fears that violence in the Middle East could escalate further with Iran vowing a stiff response against the Jewish state.
“The attack is an unacceptable violation of the sovereignty of Syria and undermines its stability and security,” Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement, adding that attacks against diplomats or diplomatic facilities are illegal under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.
“The irresponsible act of the Israeli forces is a major escalation in an already volatile region,” the statement said, urging the UN Security Council to prevent Israel from its “adventurism in the region” and its illegal acts of attacking its neighbors and targeting foreign diplomatic facilities.
Emergency services work at a destroyed building hit by an air strike in Damascus, Syria, on April 1, 2024. (AP)
Israel has killed over 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza since Oct. 7 2023 and injured thousands more. The Jewish state has angered several countries around the world as it pushes its military offensives in Gaza, ignoring calls for an immediate ceasefire from global leaders and peace activists.
Pakistan, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, has consistently criticized it for its military campaign in Gaza and called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Al Quds al Sharif as its capital.
