Syria warns that Israel's policies threaten to 'ignite' the region

Damascus has called on the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Security Council to put an end to "Israeli aggressive policies" that it says "threaten to ignite the region" after the killing of a prominent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) leader in Syria in an Israeli airstrike earlier this week.

On Monday, the IRGC announced the death of General Razi Mousavi, "one of the most experienced advisors" in Syria, in an Israeli missile strike targeting him in the Sayyida Zaynab area near Damascus, heightening fears of further regional escalation amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas.

In two letters to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, and the President of the Security Council, the Syrian Foreign Ministry considered the Israeli "aggression" that led to Mousavi's "martyrdom" as a "blatant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," according to the official news agency SANA on Thursday.

The Security Council called on "to assume its responsibilities in putting an end to Israeli aggressive policies that threaten to ignite the region and push it towards comprehensive escalation that threatens regional and international peace and security."

Mousavi's death increases tension in the Middle East, where Iran-backed groups have intensified their attacks since Hamas launched an attack against Israel on October 7, sparking the war in Gaza.

Mousavi was "the logistical head of the axis of resistance" in Syria, according to the IRGC. Tehran leads the Axis and includes Palestinian, Iraqi, and Yemeni factions, in addition to the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Mousavi was the highest-ranking commander in the Quds Force, responsible for foreign operations in the Revolutionary Guard, to be killed outside Iran since Major General Qassem Soleimani, the then-commander of the force, was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq on January 3, 2020.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Israel "will certainly pay the price for this crime."

AFP