ISRAEL, IRAN TRADE THREATS
US preparing new sanctions on Iran’s drone, missile programme
ISRAEL and Iran traded threats after Teheran’s firstever direct attack on its arch-foe sharply heightened tensions in a region on edge after six months of war in Gaza.
The war in the besieged territory and its soaring civilian toll had revived the push for a twostate solution, with the United Nations Security Council preparing to vote today on full UN membership for a Palestinian state, according to diplomatic sources.
The United States, meanwhile, announced on Tuesday that it was preparing new sanctions on Iran’s missile and drone programme after its weekend attack on Israel, and the European Union’s foreign policy chief signalled the bloc would levy new punitive measures as well.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Iran would not get off “scot-free” after Teheran and its allies launched a barrage of more than 300 missiles, drones and rockets at Israel.
“We cannot stand still from this kind of aggression,” Hagari said, a day after Israel’s military chief vowed there would be “a response” to Iran’s attack.
Iran has characterised the barrage as an act of self-defence following a deadly air strike on its consulate in Syria, saying that it would consider the matter “concluded” unless Israel retaliated.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said “the slightest action against Iran’s interests will definitely be met with a severe, extensive and painful response”.
US President Joe Biden had stressed that “the US is committed to Israel’s security”, but wanted to prevent the conflict from spreading.
Washington, Israel’s top ally and arms supplier, had made
clear it would not join Israel in any retaliatory attack on their common adversary Iran, according to a senior US official.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday said Washington would “impose new sanctions on Iran, including its missile and drone programme”, as well as the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian Defence Ministry, in the coming days.
The measures, he said, would help 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 on expanding sanctions against Iran, particularly against its supplies of weaponry, including drones, to Russia and proxy groups around the Middle East.
World leaders had urged restraint and de-escalation in the aftermath of the weekend’s attack.
During a phone call with Iran’s Raisi, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on both sides to “prevent
a new round of confrontation fraught with catastrophic consequences for the region”, the Kremlin said.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu against “significant escalation” and said now was a moment for “calm heads to prevail”.
Throughout, Israel had kept bombing targets in Gaza, the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory that has been largely devastated by more than six months of war and a siege on its 2.4 million people.
The Security Council in March adopted a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, but to little effect, with negotiations toward a truce stalled after the latest proposal did not get Hamas approval.
Israel was weighing its options after the Iranian drone and missile onslaught, which caused little damage as Israeli defences intercepted most projectiles, with help from US, British and French forces, as well as regional allies.
It remained unclear when Israel might strike back and whether it would target Iran directly or attack its interests or allies abroad in places such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Iran-backed Hizbollah, which has been trading regular crossborder fire with Israel since October, claimed an attack with two explosive drones near a northern Israeli town on Tuesday that the local council said wounded three people.
Also on Tuesday, an Israeli strike killed a local Hizbollah commander in southern Lebanon, a source close to the group and the Israeli military said.
Hizbollah later said two more of its fighters had been killed, while its ally, the Amal movement, announced one dead.
Hizbollah said it launched rockets at Israel in response.
Israel’s military had vowed the tensions with Iran will not distract it from the war in Gaza, where it aims to destroy Hamas and bring home the hostages taken during the Oct 7 Hamas attack that sparked the conflict.