NEW YORK: World leaders have asked Israel and Iran to step back from the brink following Iran fired a barrage of rockets at its arch-foe. Following the wave of missiles, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has denounced the “broadening conflict” in the Middle East.
With Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah group broadening alongside its ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Guterres slammed “escalation after escalation” in the Middle East. “This must stop. We absolutely need a truce.”
Iran said the assault on Tuesday – which took place as Israel stated it was mounting a ground offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon – was in reply to the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
It was the second time Tehran has directly attacked Israel, following a missile and drone strike in April in retaliation for a deadly Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken termed the attack was completely unacceptable. AFP reported that Blinken said that initial reports show that Israel, with the active support of Washington and other partners, effectively defeated this strike.
The Palestinian group Hamas lauded Iran’s attack on Israel. Hamas said the missile attack was retaliation for killings including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez denounced the Iranian attacks and called for an end to the “spiral of violence” damaging the region. French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned Iran’s attacks against Israel, claiming that his country had “mobilised” its military resources in the Middle East to counter Iran.
