World leaders are urging Israel not to retaliate after Iran’s attack. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says “all sides must show restraint” to avoid a rising spiral of violence in the Middle East. French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris will try to “convince Israel that we must not respond by escalating.”
Quick Read
- World Leaders Urge Israel Not to Retaliate: In response to Iran’s attack on Israel, global leaders are calling for restraint. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron have specifically urged Israel to avoid escalating the conflict.
- UN Security Council Expresses Concern: During a meeting originally focused on Yemen, the UN Security Council discussed the potential for escalation following the Iranian attack. The council emphasized the need for maximum restraint among all parties involved.
- Iran’s Display of Military Capability: Iran demonstrated its military capability by using ballistic missiles in its attack, although it claimed that the operation was concluded after the initial barrage.
- US and Russian Responses: The United States played a significant role in defending Israel during the attack. Russia expressed extreme concern about the situation and called for all conflicts in the region to be resolved through political and diplomatic means.
- Austrian and German Reactions: Austria’s foreign minister condemned Iran’s actions and emphasized the importance of de-escalation. Germany’s government echoed this sentiment, urging restraint and emphasizing the success of Israel’s air defenses in repelling the attack.
- Economic Implications and Public Reaction: The attack briefly influenced oil prices, but they stabilized after it became clear that the immediate crisis had been contained. Public demonstrations in various countries showed both support for and opposition to the actions taken by Israel and Iran.
The Associated Press has the story:
World Leaders urge Israel not to retaliate after Iran’s attack, concerned about escalation risk
Newslooks- UNITED NATIONS —
World leaders are urging Israel not to retaliate. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says “all sides must show restraint” to avoid a rising spiral of violence in the Middle East. French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris will try to “convince Israel that we must not respond by escalating.”
UN SECURITY COUNCIL CONCERNED ABOUT RISK OF ESCALATION
A United Nations Security Council meeting on Yemen on Monday touched on the risk of escalation after Iran’s attack on Israel.
Diplomats are calling this “a particularly dangerous moment in the Middle East,” as U.N. special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said.
“The need for broader regional de-escalation is acute,” he added. “I share the secretary-general’s alarm about the very real danger of regionwide escalation and his urging to all parties for maximum restraint.”
A U.N. Security Council emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the attack ended without any action taken.
“Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said. “Now is the time for maximum restraint.”
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER URGES RESTRAINT
LONDON — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says “all sides must show restraint” to avoid a rising spiral of violence in the Middle East.
Sunak on Monday condemned Iran’s attack on Israel as “a reckless and dangerous escalation.” He said he would speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express the U.K.’s solidarity with Israel “and to discuss how we can prevent further escalation.”
Britain is urging Israel to refrain from a retaliatory strike. Sunak told lawmakers in the House of Commons that “we want to see calmer heads prevail.”
He said Israel’s security is “non-negotiable,” but added that the conflict in Gaza must be brought to an end, and the world “must invest more deeply in the two-state solution.”
IRAN’S BALLISTIC MISSILES
WASHINGTON — Iran had about 150 ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel from Iranian territory, and appears to have used up most of that current stockpile in its weekend attack, retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former head of U.S. CENTCOM said Monday.
McKenzie discussed the attack in a panel discussion with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a Washington-based think tank and lobbying group.
McKenzie argued that Iran’s expenditure of those 150 long-range missiles, out of a total ballistic missile stockpile of about 3,000, showed that Iran’s barrage on Israel “was a maximum effort. It was an indiscriminate effort.”
The U.S. and its partners in the region are easily able to track when Iran brings its ballistic missiles out of storage and positions them on launch pads, he said.
When Iran launches, deep space sensors detect that immediately, he said. Radars in the region then catch when any missiles break the radar plane, he said.
Especially given the distance involved, “it is hard for Iran to generate a bolt from the blue against Israel,” McKenzie said.
RUSSIA IS ‘EXTREMELY CONCERNED’
MOSCOW — The Kremlin is “extremely concerned” about the situation in the Middle East, its spokesman said Monday.
“Further escalation is in no one’s interests. Therefore, of course, we advocate that all disagreements be resolved exclusively by political and diplomatic methods,” Peskov said.
AUSTRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CONDEMNS IRAN’S ATTACK
BERLIN -– Austria’s foreign minister has spoken with his Iranian counterpart to condemn Tehran’s attack on Israel and call on Iran to rein in its proxies in the Middle East.
Alexander Schallenberg said in a statement he told Iran’s Hossein Amirabdollahian on Monday that “we cannot afford another front in the Middle East. There would only be losers, in the region and beyond.”
Schallenberg said he also urged Amirabdollahian to “exercise Iran’s influence on proxies in the region.”
Austria hosted talks on Iran’s nuclear agreement with world powers in 2015.
Amirabdollahian already spoke on Sunday with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. A spokesperson for Baerbock, Christian Wagner, said Iran’s ambassador to Germany was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on Monday.
OIL PRICES FALL AFTER IRAN’S STRIKE ON ISRAEL IS THWARTED
Oil prices fell Monday after Iran’s missile and drone strike failed to cause widespread damage in Israel and the U.S. administration made it clear it did not support a wider war with Iran.
Analysts say the chief risk to oil prices from the Israel-Hamas war is if the conflict escalates and disrupts oil supplies from Iran and Persian Gulf producers through the Strait of Hormuz choke point.
The stance taken by Iran, which said the matter “can be deemed concluded” with the retaliatory strikes, and the U.S. position reassured oil traders, who sent the price of international benchmark Brent crude 0.7% lower to $89.82 per barrel in Monday morning trading. That is below the levels just above $90 per barrel seen on Friday before the weekend attacks.
Risks that could send prices higher include any Israeli strike against Iranian oil facilities or tougher enforcement of sanctions against Iran by the U.S. “Any retaliation by Israel … especially one that targets Iran’s oil facilities, will have major implications for energy markets,” said analysts at S&P Global.
Tougher sanctions enforcement against Iranian oil shipments by the U.S. could raise oil prices but would risk higher inflation and pump prices for U.S. motorists in an election year.
GERMAN CHANCELLOR CALLS ON ISRAEL TO CONTRIBUTE TO DE-ESCALATION
BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is calling on Israel to “contribute to de-escalation” in the Middle East following Iran’s attack on the country.
Scholz told reporters in Shanghai on Monday that “Iran must stop this aggression.”
Asked whether he will attempt to dissuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a military response to Saturday night’s attack, he said there’s widespread agreement that Israel’s success in largely repelling the attack with allies’ help was “really impressive.”
He added that “this is a success that perhaps also should not be thrown away. Hence also our advice to contribute to de-escalation themselves.”
Germany is a staunch ally of Israel.
AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS URGE ISRAEL, IRAN TO AVOID ESCALATION
KAMPALA, Uganda — Some African governments are urging Israel and Iran to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
While Iran’s attack on Israel “represents a real and present threat to international peace and security,” Israel should “show utmost restraint” in its response, President William Ruto of Kenya said in a statement posted on social platform X.
The warring parties “must exercise the utmost restraint and avoid any act that would escalate tensions in a particularly fragile region,” South Africa’s government said in a statement Sunday.
Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry urged Israel and Iran to “reflect on the universal commitment to peaceful resolution of conflicts.”
BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY URGES ISRAEL TO AVOID STRIKING BACK AT IRAN
LONDON — British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has urged Israel “to be smart as well as tough” and avoid striking back at Iran in response to its drone and missile barrage.
Cameron told the BBC that the U.K. does not support a retaliatory strike. The U.K.’s top diplomat said the attack had been a defeat for Iran and echoed President Joe Biden, who urged Israel to “take the win.”
Cameron said Britain’s message to Israel is: “Now is the time to be smart as well as tough, to think with head as well as heart.”
He said British fighter jets had played an “important part” in shooting down some of the more than 300 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones fired at Israel from Iran, but did not provide details.
MACRON SAYS IRAN’S ATTACK ON ISRAEL WAS A ‘DISPROPORTIONATE RESPONSE’
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron said Iran’s attack on Israel was a “disproportionate response” to the bombing of its consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Firing a barrage of missiles and drones on Israel was an “unprecedented, very dangerous” act in the volatile Middle East, Macron said of Saturday’s attacks.
Speaking to French media BFMTV and RMC on Monday, Macron said that France had carried out “interceptions” of missiles that Iran aimed at Israel at the request of Jordan.
“We have condemned, we have intervened, we will do everything to avoid an escalation, an inferno,” Macron said.
He said France will try to “convince Israel that we must not respond by escalating.”
Instead of retaliating by attacking Tehran, France will work to “isolate Iran, increase sanctions and find a path to peace in the region,” Macron said.
GERMAN FM TELLS IRANIAN COUNTERPART NOT TO FURTHER ESCALATE TENSIONS
PARIS – Germany’s foreign minister says she has made “unmistakably” clear to her Iranian counterpart that Tehran must not further escalate tensions in the Middle East.
Annalena Baerbock spoke by phone Sunday with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, following a previous conversation last week before Iran’s attack on Israel. She said she “warned him unmistakably against a further escalation.”
She said at a news conference in Paris on Monday that “Iran is isolated.” She added that “Israel won in a defensive way” thanks to its strong air defense and the intervention of the U.S., Britain and Arab countries.
Baerbock said that “it is now important to secure this defensive victory diplomatically” and prevent a regional confrontation.
Asked whether Israel has the right to strike back against Iran, Baerbock said that “the right to self-defense means fending off an attack; retaliation is not a category in international law.” She said she had made that point to Amirabdollahian last week.
