The Latest: UN chief calls for restraint after Iran's retaliatory attacks on Israel
TEHRAN/JERUSALEM/UNITED NATIONS, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments related to Iran's massive drone and missile attack against Israel:
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for maximum restraint after Iran's retaliatory attacks on Israel over the latter's deadly assault on the Iranian consulate in Syria.
"The Middle East is on the brink. The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate. Now is the time for maximum restraint," he told an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
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The European Union (EU) and the Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Sunday called for preventing a further escalation of the situation in the Middle East following Iran's retaliatory strikes on Israel.
"Everything must be done to prevent further regional escalation. More bloodshed must be avoided. We will continue to follow the situation closely with our partners," said European Council President Charles Michel on social media.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday exchanged views on Iran's retaliatory military operation against Israel.
In a phone call, Amir-Abdollahian said Israel's repeated "aggressions," including its recent deadly attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, were a flagrant violation of the Vienna conventions and Iran's red line.
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Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday held a phone conversation on the current situation in the Middle East region.
In the phone call made by Amir-Abdollahian, the two diplomats discussed regional escalations "against the backdrop of the crisis in the Gaza Strip and its repercussions," the Saudi Press Agency reported, without giving further details.
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Israeli war cabinet ministers convened on Sunday to discuss a response to Iran's attack but were split on the timing and scale of a possible counterattack, a government source confirmed to Xinhua.
The source indicated that a majority of ministers favored a counterattack. However, internal disagreements persisted regarding the timing and extent of the retaliatory action.
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The United States does not want to go to war with Iran, a White House national security spokesman said on Sunday.
Appearing on CNN's State of the Union news program one day after Iran launched attacks against Israel, U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby was asked by host Jake Tapper if the Biden administration supports an Israeli retaliatory operation directly aimed at targets inside Iran.
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Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations said the country's military action against Israel was based on Article 51 of the UN Charter regarding the legitimate right to self-defense and in response to the deadly Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria, the official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) confirmed that it has launched dozens of missiles and drones against Israel, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Saturday night.
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A combined attack of dozens of ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones from Iran triggered air raid alerts across Israel early Sunday, the Israeli army said, as residents reported multiple bombings were heard.
The projectiles triggered sirens in Jerusalem, the Negev Desert and the Dead Sea in the south, the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights in the north as well as the occupied West Bank.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed during a press briefing that Israel was under attack by ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles from Iran, noting that aerial defense systems have intercepted some of the missiles.
Israel's Maged David Adom rescue service said in a statement that a 10-year-old boy was seriously injured in a Beduin village in the Negev. A projectile or parts of a projectile fell near Umm Al Fahm, an Arab city in northern Israel, causing no injuries.
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Countries in the Middle East on Sunday announced the reopening of their airspace following the Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel.
A statement by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) said that "the Iraqi airspace has been reopened to all aircraft arriving at, departing from, and crossing the country after the end of all risks that affect the security and safety of civil aviation in Iraq."
Earlier, the ICAA closed the Iraqi airspace after dozens of Iranian missiles and drones traversed Iraqi airspace en route to Israel late Saturday. ■