Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, voiced anger towards Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, following the EU's urging restraint on Iran after Israel’s Monday attack on its embassy in Damascus.
"It is expected that the European Union will strongly condemn these crimes in a practical and immediate step," Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying.
The European Union's call for restraint came in response to an airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, which resulted in the deaths of seven Revolutionary Guards. Iran attributed the attack to Israel, holding them responsible for the deaths of two generals and five military personnel at the embassy compound. However, Israel has not acknowledged responsibility for the strike, which marks one of the most significant attacks on Iranian interests in Syria to date.
Peter Stano, a spokesperson for the executive European Commission, on Wednesday condemned the attack emphasizing the need for utmost restraint in the tense regional situation. However, Amir-Abdollahian claimed that the security of diplomats and diplomatic premises had been violated by Israel in what he termed a terrorist act.
However, criticism has emerged from some observers who view the EU's stance as continuing to act as the "protective shield" of the Islamic Republic. Jason Brodsky, policy director for the think tank United Against A Nuclear Iran, lambasted the EU's response, stating, "The European Union is condemning an attack targeting the IRGC terrorists commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi, whom it has sanctioned, and in the process falls hook, line, and sinker for the Iranian fiction that this was a diplomatic compound."
