Iran claimed the strikes caused ‘limited damage’ [Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images]
World leaders expressed serious concern following Israel’s barrage of missile strikes on targets across Iran early on Saturday.
Governments across the Middle East condemned the strikes which they said threatened the security and stability of the region and once again called on all parties to de-escalate aggressions.
Israel launched three waves of strikes that targeted some 20 military sites around the capital Tehran and the southwestern provinces of Ilham and Khuzestan. The Iranian army said in a statement that two soldiers were killed in the strikes which Iran state media said caused “limited damage”.
World leaders had been braced for weeks awaiting Israel’s response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on 1 October, launched in the wake of Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and senior Islamic Revolutionary Guards Commander general Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut.
The UK and US said that they supported what they called “Israel’s right to defend itself” and urged Iran against further escalation, while governments in the region condemned the attack and blamed Israel for the instability.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry, on the other hand, expressed “condemnation and denunciation of the military targeting of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and called it a violation of sovereignty and international law.
“The Kingdom also affirms its unwavering 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 people of the region.”
Qatar, which has been a key mediator between Israel and Hamas in Gaza ceasefire talks, said Israel’s strike was a “blatant violation of Iran’s sovereignty”. The Gulf nation called on all concerned parties “to exercise restraint, resolve disputes through dialogue and peaceful means”.
The Pakistan foreign ministry said Israel “bears full responsibility” for the instability and “expansion” of conflict in the Middle East.
“We call on the UN Security Council to play its role for the maintenance of international peace and security, and to take immediate steps to bring an end to Israeli recklessness in the region and its criminal behaviour,” the foreign office said in a statement.
The United Arab Emirates, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020, also expressed condemnation and concern for the impact on regional security and stability.
The Iraqi prime minister’s office said in a statement that Israel’s strikes were a continuation of its “aggressive policies and expansion of conflict in the region, employing acts of aggression without deterrence”.
While Iraq has not been involved in the regional escalation, Iran-allied militia groups under the Islamic Resistance umbrella have launched attacks against Israeli and US assets in the region, saying this is in solidarity with Palestinians suffering from Israel’s war on Gaza
Hamas in Gaza posted on Telegram that it placed “full responsibility” on Israel and the US for the attack on Iran.
“We consider this a flagrant violation of Iranian sovereignty and an escalation that threatens the security of the region and the safety of its people, placing full responsibility on the occupation for the consequences of this aggression, supported by the United States of America.”
