Israel blames Iran for Syrian rocket attack in letter to P5+ 1

Israel submitted a formal diplomatic complaint to world powers about a recent rocket attack from Syria — blaming a specific Iranian general and warning of increased regional aggression by Iran in the wake of the nuclear deal, the Jerusalem Post reported on Saturday.

The demarche was sent Friday to the P5+1 — the six world powers, including the United States, that negotiated the nuclear agreement with Iran — a day after a barrage of four rockets hit Israel from Syria.

Sent by Jeremy Issacharoff, the vice director general of Israel Foreign Affairs Ministry, the document said Israel has “credible information” that Thursday’s rocket attack was ordered by “Iranian Operative Saeed Izaadhi” and carried out by the Palestinian branch of militant group Islamic Jihad.

The document called the attack “an indiscriminate and premeditated terrorist attack against Israeli territory without any provocation from the Israeli side.” Further, it said the attack was “another clear and blatant demonstration of Iran’s continued and unabating support and involvement in terrorist attacks” and “a clear indication of how Iran intends to continue to pursue its destabilizing actions and policies as the international sanctions regime is withdrawn in the near future.”

“The international community led by the P5+1 cannot enable Iran to gain respectability and political legitimacy from the [nuclear agreement, which lifts sanctions in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program], while in parallel it continues to actively and directly perpetrate terror throughout the region,” the document said.

The nuclear deal is being hotly debated in the US Congress, which has until September to decide whether or not to vote against the deal. President Obama has said he will veto any legislative attempts to block the deal.