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Iran to remain level-headed as Israel tries to drag it into conflict — analyst

Ahmad Gholampour said Iran should not allow Israel to achieve its goals, even after the strike on the consulate, which was "an open attack on the Iranian territory"

DUBAI, April 8. /TASS/. Tehran is set to act prudently and will not allow Israel to achieve the goal of dragging Iran into the conflict, said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Retired General Ahmad Gholampour.

"Israel has fallen into a quagmire [of hostilities in the Gaza Strip], <...> and in order to get out of it, it is seeking to drag Iran into this war as a direct participant," Gholampour, who is currently a professor at the Supreme National Defense University of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency Tasnim.

He said the goal of involving Iran in the conflict was behind the Israeli "suicidal" airstrike on the consular section of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus. According to the analyst, the leadership of the Jewish state believes that "if Iran enters this war, the approach to it and its justification will change and Israel will then be able to breathe a sigh of relief."

Gholampour said Iran should not allow Israel to achieve its goals, even after the strike on the consulate, which was "an open attack on the Iranian territory." Therefore, Tehran’s response will be "prudent and carefully considered."

On April 1, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said seven Iranian advisers were killed in an Israeli Air Force strike on the country’s consulate in Damascus. They were generals Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, along with five other officers. According to the Iranian television channel IRIB, Zahedi commanded Quds forces in Lebanon and Syria.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that Iran will make Israel regret the strike, while Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned the attack will not go unanswered. Israel has not officially claimed responsibility for the incident. Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari told CNN that the strike hit a military building of the IRGC in Damascus, not a consulate.

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