Condemnation, calls for restraint: the world responds to Israeli attacks on Iran | Israeli-Palestinian Conflict News

The Israeli army launched attacks on military bases in Iran, hitting around twenty locations in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran over several hours.

Iran confirmed that Saturday’s attacks targeted military bases but caused only “limited damage.” The barrage marked an escalation in ongoing tensions between the two countries.

The Israeli military announced that the operation was complete, and military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that if Iran carries out retaliatory strikes, Israel “will be obliged to respond.”

Iran’s air defense headquarters said the “aggressive action was successfully intercepted and countered by the country’s integrated air defense system.”

Here are some world reactions:

United States

“We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation,” Sean Savett, spokesman for the US National Security Council, told reporters.

“Their response was an exercise in self-defense and avoided specifically populated areas and focused exclusively on military targets, unlike Iran’s attack on Israel, which targeted Israel’s most populous city,” he added.

He emphasized that the US did not participate in the operation and said that “our goal is to accelerate diplomacy and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.”

A senior White House official said the Biden administration believed the Israeli operation should “shut down” direct military exchanges between Israel and Iran. US President Joe Biden was kept informed as the Israeli operation developed and as the attacks were carried out by the Israelis, the official said.

Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder posted on

Saudi Arabia

The State Department condemned the military strikes on Iran as a “violation of its sovereignty” and international law and urged all parties to “exercise utmost restraint and reduce escalation.”

The ministry said in a statement: “The Kingdom reaffirms its steadfast position in its rejection of the continued escalation in the region and the expansion of the conflict that threatens the security and stability of the countries and peoples of the region.”

In recent months, relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have improved thanks to high-level meetings between officials from both sides.

In 2023, the two countries agreed to restore diplomatic ties and reopen their embassies, in an agreement reached in China.

United Kingdom

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Iran should not respond to a wave of Israeli attacks and urged restraint from all sides.

“I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. I am equally clear that we must avoid further regional escalation and call on all parties to exercise restraint. Iran should not respond,” he told a news conference in Samoa, where he was attending a meeting of Commonwealth leaders.

Pakistan

Israeli military strikes “against the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Iran “are a serious violation of the UN Charter and international law,” the Foreign Ministry said.

The attacks “undermine the path to regional peace and stability and also represent a dangerous escalation in an already unstable region,” the ministry statement said, adding that “Israel bears full responsibility for the current cycle of escalation and expansion of the conflict in the region.” .

It also called on the United Nations Security Council “to play its role in maintaining international peace and security, and to take immediate steps to put an end to Israeli recklessness in the region and its criminal behavior.”

United Arab Emirates

The Gulf state condemned the military attacks on Iran and stressed the importance of exercising “maximum restraint” to avoid escalation.

Malaysia

The State Department called the Israeli attacks a “clear violation of international law” that “seriously undermines regional security.”

It also said that “Malaysia calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to the cycle of violence.”

Israel’s continued attacks on Middle Eastern countries are bringing the region closer to the brink of a wider war, the ministry statement said.