Israel under pressure to refrain from striking Iran after attack
Middle East tensions have been stoked further as Iran has vowed to hit back if Israel launches any further attacks
Israel faced pressure from its allies on Wednesday to refrain from striking back at Iran for its unprecedented missile and drone attack as Washington and Brussels vowed to ramp up sanctions against the Islamic republic.
British foreign secretary David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock were the first Western envoys to visit Israel and urge calm after Iran’s weekend attack, against which Israel has vowed to retaliate.
Middle East tensions -- which have soared amid the Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza since October 7 — have been stoked further as Iran has vowed to hit back if its arch foe Israel launches any further attacks.
As Iran marked its annual Army Day, it showed off a range of its weapons on Wednesday, including attack drones and longer-range ballistic missiles, in a military parade in Tehran.
President Ebrahim Raisi hailed the weekend attack, launched in response to a deadly strike on Iran’s Damascus consulate widely blamed on Israel, and warned that “the slightest act of aggression” by Israel would lead to “a fierce and severe response”.
In the large-scale assault from late on Saturday, Iran and allied groups launched over 300 missiles and drones carrying a combined payload of 85 tonnes at Israel, according to the Israeli army.
Damage and casualties were limited as Israel’s air defences intercepted most of them, an effort joined by US, British, French and Jordanian forces.
Israel’s military chief Herzi Halevi has vowed “a response” to Iran’s first ever direct attack, and military spokesman Daniel Hagari also stressed that Iran would not get off “scot-free”.
It remained unclear how and when Israel might strike, and whether it would target Iran directly or attack its interests or allies abroad in places such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
US, EU toughen sanctions
Israel’s top ally the United States has made clear it won’t join any attack on Iran and has called for de-escalation, as have a host of other Western and Arab leaders.
Washington has vowed instead to level more sanctions targeting Iran’s missile and drone programme, its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian defence ministry.
US national security adviser
Jake Sullivan said the new measures “will continue a steady drumbeat of pressure to contain and degrade Iran’s military capacity and effectiveness and confront the full range of its problematic behaviours”.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Brussels was also working to expand sanctions against Iran, including its supply of drones and other weapons to Russia and to proxy groups around the Middle East.
Germany’s Baerbock said that Berlin and Paris were in favour of a European sanctions regime against Iranian drones to be extended to include “missile
technologies in Iran’s arsenal”.
Truce talks stalled
The sharply heightened IsraelIran tensions have threatened to overshadow the Gaza war, even as bombardment and combat raged on unabated in the besieged territory. Talks towards a truce and hostage release deal have stalled for now, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, a key mediator, said, despite months of effort.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu told new army recruits on Tuesday that Israel is fighting Hamas “without mercy”.