Iran urges UN, Security Council to condemn attacks on its diplomatic premises in Syria

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations asked the world body and the UN Security Council to unequivocally condemn the attacks by militants, led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), on Iranian diplomatic and consular missions in Syria in the wake of the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government.

News ID: 5570

Date: 10 December 2024 - 11:01

TABNAK, Dec 10: “These actions are blatant violations of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963), which guarantee the inviolability of diplomatic missions and the safety of their personnel,” Amir Saeid Iravani wrote in two identical letters addressed to the UN Secretary General António Guterres and rotating President of the Security Council Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Monday.

The Islamic Republic of Iran stresses that the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and representatives must be upheld at all times in accordance with international law, he added.

Iran’s permanent representative to the UN noted that no individual, group, or state has the right to commit or facilitate such violations.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran urges the United Nations Secretary General and the Security Council to condemn these egregious violations unequivocally and take necessary measures to ensure the safety of diplomatic personnel and premises and prevent the recurrence of such attacks,” Iravani pointed out.

Videos circulated online on Sunday showed militants tearing down the poster that depicted martyred top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at the embassy’s exterior.

They also broke the windows of the diplomatic mission and looted its offices, resulting in severe damage, vandalism, theft of archives and documents.

Separately on November 29, militants targeted the Iranian consulate in Syria’s northwestern city of Aleppo with short-range shells, endangering consular staff.

The consulate was invaded and damaged following the evacuation of the mission due to life-threatening attacks.

Militants waged a surprise two-pronged attack on Syria’s Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib on November 27.

Soon afterward, they seized control of several major Syrian cities, including Hama, Homs, Dara’a, and Suwayda, before entering the capital Damascus on December 8.

Armed groups, led by HTS militants, announced on Sunday that they had fully captured Damascus, and confirmed reports of the fall of Assad’s government.