Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian considered his country's possible response to Israel's bombing of the consular section of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus, "a legitimate defense to punish the aggressor."

This came in a telephone call with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The statement stated that Abdullahian "rejected Germany's call to exercise maximum restraint against Israel," noting that "the only solution to address the current problem is to stop Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip."

He added, "The reason behind the failure of Germany's efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza is its failure to remain neutral while this genocide continues (referring to the Israeli attacks.")

Abdullahian said, "When the Israeli entity violates the principles of international law and the Vienna Treaties, and completely violates the immunity of persons and diplomatic sites, legitimate defense, with the aim of punishing the aggressor, becomes a necessity."

Israeli media said that Tel Aviv was preparing for an Iranian response to the assassination of General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, in an air strike that Tehran said was an Israeli bombing that targeted its consulate building in Damascus in early April.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that Israel “committed a mistake” when it killed General Zahedi, the commander of the “Quds Force” of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Syria and Lebanon.

Israel did not officially acknowledge the assassination of Zahedi, but it did not deny responsibility for the assassination either.