It certainly will be seen by Iran as an escalation, but
1. It wasn't the Iranian embassy that was struck.
2. Those killed in the attack were Hezbollah and IRGC, both of which are designated terrorist organizations. They were meeting to facilitate attacks on Israel.
Hezbollah and their sponsor, Iran, would have been wise to avoid attacking Israel when they were engaged in war with Gaza following the Oct 7 attacks. But they jumped in to open a second front to support Hamas. Israel has the right to defend herself, including attacks against Hezbollah in states that provide them sanctuary, and allow attacks from their soil.
1. It wasn't the Iranian embassy that was struck.
2. Those killed in the attack were Hezbollah and IRGC, both of which are designated terrorist organizations. They were meeting to facilitate attacks on Israel.
Isn't crossing a state's legal border to attack a diplomatic compound an act of war against not one, but two countries --- the host country (Syria) and its invited international guest (Iran)?
What would we do if any country crossed into Qatar and bombed the diplomatic US compound? What's Israel going to do when Israeli diplomatic compounds become the target of similar retaliation?
This *is* Israeli escalation --- and I fear our diplomats/military in the region and around the world will pay the price.