Iran president warns of 'massive' response if Israel launches 'tiniest invasion'
Iran's president has warned that the "tiniest invasion" by Israel would bring a "massive and harsh" response, as the region braces for potential Israeli retaliation after Iran's attack over the weekend.
President Ebrahim Raisi spoke Wednesday at an annual army parade that was relocated to a barracks north of the capital, Tehran, from its usual venue on a highway in the city's southern outskirts. Iranian authorities gave no explanation for its relocation, and state TV did not broadcast it live, as it has in previous years.
Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend in response to an apparent Israeli strike on Iran's embassy compound in Syria on April 1 that killed 12 people, including two Iranian generals.
Israel, with help from the United States, the United Kingdom, neighboring Jordan and other nations, successfully intercepted nearly all the missiles and drones.
`Urgent de-escalation'
UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres is calling for "urgent de-escalation" of hostilities in the Middle East.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that Guterres made the comments during a phone conversation with Iran's foreign minister following Tehran's weekend attack on Israel. Dujarric said Guterres spoke to Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Monday.
During an emergency Security Council meeting on Sunday, Guterres warned that "the Middle East is on the brink" and it's time to step back.
World leaders have urged Israel not to retaliate after Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles over the weekend in an unprecedented mission that pushed the Middle East closer to a regionwide war. The attack happened less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building.
$2.8B aid
The United Nations is appealing for $2.8 billion to provide desperately needed aid to 3 million Palestinians, stressing that tackling looming famine in war-torn Gaza doesn't only require food but sanitation, water and health facilities.
Andrea De Domenico, the head of the UN humanitarian office for Gaza and the West Bank, told reporters Tuesday that "massive operations" are required to restore those services and meet minimum standards – and this can't be done during military operations.
He pointed to the destruction of hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, homes, roads and schools, adding that "there is not a single university that is standing in Gaza."
De Domenico said there is an initial sign of Israel's "good intention" to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, but the UN keeps pushing because it's not enough.
He pointed to Israeli denials and delays on UN requests for aid convoys to enter Gaza.
The UN humanitarian official called for a complete change of focus to recognize that preventing famine goes beyond providing flour for bread or pita and to recognize that "water, sanitation and health are fundamental to curb famine."
Ceasefire call
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have called for an immediate cease-fire and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on a visit to Islamabad, said Tuesday that international efforts toward a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have been "wholly insufficient."
Without mentioning an Iranian attack on Israel over the weekend, he said: "We are already in an unstable region, and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is already inflaming the region."
Pakistan's foreign minister described the killings in Gaza as "genocide" and said that the "world's conscience must wake up." Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for closer cooperation with Saudi Arabia to help his cash-strapped nation.