Russia summons UN Security Council session over Israeli strike on Iran's diplomatic mission in Syria

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Moscow summoned a UN Security Council meeting over a suspected Israeli strike on Iran's diplomatic mission in Syria's capital Damascus, Russia's first deputy envoy to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said on Tuesday.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday and will be public, Polyansky said on Telegram.

"After the Israeli air attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, the Iranians asked the UN Security Council to condemn this action. As a follow-up to the Iranians' letter, we have requested an open meeting of the UN Security Council. The Maltese Presidency has scheduled it for 15:00 New York time (GMT1900) (22:00 Moscow time) on April 2," he wrote.

At least 11 people were killed in Monday's attack, including three Syrian and one Lebanese nationals.

Among those killed were two generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), elite units of the Iranian armed forces, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his deputy, Gen. Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, along with five other IRGC military advisers.

The Iranian mission to the UN called the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus a "cowardly terrorist act" and a "blatant violation of the UN Charter," and called on the Security Council of the world organization to condemn the strike and take action.