Iran Envoy to UN Alleges Israel Killed Four Iranian Diplomats in Beirut
Teheran: Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, claimed that the Israeli government assassinated four senior Iranian diplomats in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, which he described as a “heinous crime”.
In his letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the envoy said that the Israeli government carried out a targeted attack on the Ramada Hotel in Beirut on March 8, which resulted in the death of diplomats.
Iravani noted that the diplomats were temporarily placed in the hotel as a security measure after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) threatened to target Iranian official representatives in Lebanon.
In his letter, the ambassador claimed that “the assassination of diplomats serving as official representatives of a sovereign state on the territory of another sovereign state was a heinous act of terrorism and a serious violation of international law.”
He also claimed that such a “blatant violation” of the UN Charter and the 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons could not go unpunished.
Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces announced that it had carried out an additional wave of air strikes targeting the assets and storage facilities of Hezbollah’s Al Quard Al-Hassan Association in Lebanon. It alleges that these attacks were used to finance Israeli arms purchases and payments to militants, as part of ongoing efforts to weaken Hezbollah’s military capabilities.
The IDF also announced that Hasan Salameh, commander of Hezbollah’s “Nassar” Unit, was eliminated in a decisive Israeli Air Force strike on the Jwaya region. According to the IDF, Salameh served in many key positions within the organization.
According to details shared by the IDF, Israeli forces also carried out a joint attack in Tehran and Tabriz on Tuesday (local time).
The IDF said in a post on site
The developments come at a time when the security situation in West Asia is escalating and the conflict is spreading beyond Iran. Iran’s retaliatory attacks using missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles reportedly targeted US military bases, embassies, and civilian and energy infrastructure in neighboring Gulf countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
The conflict has also caused significant disruptions in global energy supplies, especially around the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20 percent of the world’s oil supply passes.
