Syria protested to the United Nations yesterday over an Israeli air strike on its territory and warned of a possible “surprise” response.
The Foreign Ministry summoned the head of the UN force in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to deliver the protest a day after Israel hit what Syria said was a military research centre and diplomats said was a weapons convoy heading for Lebanon.
“Syria holds Israel and those who protect it in the Security Council fully responsible for the results of this aggression and affirms its right to defend itself, its land and sovereignty,” Syrian television quoted it as saying.
The ministry said it considered Wednesday’s Israeli attack to be a violation of a 1974 military disengagement agreement which followed their last major war, and demanded the UN Security Council condemn it unequivocally.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed “grave concern”. “The Secretary-General calls on all concerned to prevent tensions or their escalation,” his office said, adding that international law and sovereignty should be respected.
Israel has maintained total silence over the attack, as it did in 2007 when it bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear site – an attack which passed without Syrian military retaliation.
In Beirut yesterday Syria’s ambassador said Damascus could take “a surprise decision to respond to the aggression of the Israeli warplanes”. He gave no details but said Syria was “defending its sovereignty and its land”.
Russia, which has blocked Western efforts to put pressure on Syria at the United Nations, said that any Israeli air strike would amount to unacceptable military interference.
“If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian said the attack “demonstrates the shared goals of terrorists and the Zionist regime”, Fars news agency reported. Assad portrays the rebels fighting him as foreign-backed, Islamist terrorists, with the same agenda as Israel.
“It is necessary for the sides which take tough stances on Syria to now take serious steps and decisive stances against this aggression by Tel Aviv and uphold criteria for security in the region,” Abdullahian said.
An aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Iran would consider any attack on Syria as an attack on itself, but Abdullahian made no mention of retaliation.
Hezbollah said the attack showed that the conflict in Syria was part of a scheme “to destroy Syria and its army and foil its pivotal role in the resistance front (against Israel)”.