Narratives of a brutal rape.
It was on Monday afternoon that suddenly the explosion of a building near the Iranian embassy in Damascus became the focus of the world’s media. This matter was important in several aspects. One is that this building was attached to the Iranian embassy, and the second is that this building belonged to the consular section of the Iranian embassy, or in other words, a part of Iran’s territory.
Another importance of this news was that the most senior military advisors of Iran several Syrian citizens and a Lebanese citizen were present in the consular section, who were martyred as a result of this attack.
What makes this event more important from the media point of view is the conditions of the Zionist regime, the location of the attack, and the time of the attack.
In a situation where the Zionist regime is under pressure from international forums, the pressure of global public opinion, and internal opposition, it seems that with this attack, the war will enter a new and perhaps “irreversible” stage, because the response from Iran is minimal. It is an expectation that Tel Aviv could have in this chaotic market.
To address this issue, we examine the news coverage of this event at three regional, extra-regional, and virtual space levels;
Regional media coverage
It was on Monday afternoon that the Syrian state news agency reported that Syrian air defenses had engaged hostile targets in Damascus airspace. Immediately after that, the media broadcast news under the title “Heavy explosion near the Iranian embassy in Damascus”.
The title “Near the Iranian Embassy” was first broadcast in the news, although it aroused the sensitivity of other media in the region. Still, since such attacks have happened in the past, it did not raise the intensity of the sensitivity that much.
Moments later, some media in the region reported another news.
Middle East News, quoting news sources, also reported that a building was targeted in the “Al-Mezzah” neighborhood of Damascus. Still, the official Syrian news agency and Al-Mayadeen network, which were the leaders in the news of this terrorist attack, quickly pointed out that the consular section of the Iranian embassy was targeted.
The following news from these two media and other Arab media including Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Israeli newspapers including; Ha’aretz, and Yediot Aharonot were published, adding to the concerns. Al-Mayadeen reporter reported that Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, one of the Quds Force commanders, and several senior Iranian military advisers were martyred in the Zionist regime’s attack on Damascus. The news that every Iranian at that moment wished was an April Fool’s lie, but the passage of time showed that this time the media’s narrative is a true one, and there is no news of the April 1st lie or the 13th lie.
Haaretz also writes in an analysis entitled “A hard blow to Iran and Hezbollah”: This attack and assassination of a senior Iranian general is a sign of a dangerous turn in Israel’s northern front.
It says: Since October 7, Israel and Hezbollah have been careful to avoid an all-out war, but an airstrike in Damascus that killed the commander of the Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon shows that Israel is increasing the cost to its northern enemy.
Al-Sharq al-Awsat also claimed that Sardar Zahedi was the link between the Syrian intelligence services and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and wrote: He is the most prominent member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who has been martyred since the assassination of Sardar Soleimani in 2020.
The Jerusalem Post has considered the assassination of Sardar Zahedi as a blow to the control of rocket attacks by Lebanese groups on Israel.
Sky News Arabic was one of the first media outlets to publish the name of Sardar Zahedi and showed pictures of him and Quds Force commander Sardar Qaani praying behind the revolution’s leader.
Media coverage at the extra-regional level
Reuters news agency was one of the first Western and trans-regional news sources that extensively covered Monday’s events in Damascus.
This news agency was one of the first media outlets to announce the martyrdom of several IRGC commanders, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, along with al-Mayadeen, and immediately published its confirmation from its security sources.
The American newspaper New York Times highlighted the cause of the attack and, citing four Zionist officials identified Israel as the cause of the attack on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
Referring to the martyrdom of Sardar Zahedi, the Washington Post writes: Israel has carried out attacks in Syria against Iran and its allies for years and during its six-month military conflict against Hamas in Gaza. But Monday’s attack stood out both for its location — a diplomatic site that should traditionally be exempt from military conflict — and for the importance of the people it targeted.
Covering this news, Axios wrote, quoting an American official, that the United States informed Tehran that it had “no connection” or “prior information” about the Israeli attack on the country’s consulate in Damascus. It seems that the premise of this media is that Iran holds America responsible for this attack.
Israeli and American officials told Axios that Israel notified the Biden administration minutes before its air strike, But he did not ask for a green light from America.
According to Axios, an American official said that Israel did not give details about the attack to the United States and that the American side was informed at the time that Israeli fighters were already in the air. For example, the Israelis did not tell the United States that they were going to bomb a building on the Iranian embassy compound.
The Guardian newspaper also covered this news and wrote: Iranian leaders in Tehran described the targeting of a diplomatic building as unprecedented and promised to retaliate.