Israel attacks Iran amid Arab condemnation
The Israeli occupation army announced on Saturday that it had bombed Iranian missile manufacturing facilities that were used to produce the rockets launched earlier at Israel.
“We bombed surface-to-air missile arrays and additional Iranian aviation capabilities that were intended to restrict the Israeli air operation in Iran,” the Israeli army said, stressing that “if the Iranian regime makes the mistake of starting a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.”
Meanwhile, Iranian media reported that the death toll from the Israeli attacks had risen to 4, noting that the number was likely to rise due to the presence of critical cases. The reformist Iranian newspaper “Ham Mihan” said that the death toll from the Iranian army’s air defense system due to the Israeli attacks had risen to 4, noting that the number was likely to rise due to the presence of critical cases among the wounded.
For its part, the Iranian air defense said in a statement that “despite previous Iranian warnings about the need to avoid any adventure, the Zionist entity targeted, at dawn today, military sites in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam.” It added: “We monitored and successfully thwarted this aggression, and limited damage was inflicted on some points,” noting that “the dimensions of the attack are under study.”
Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said in a tweet on Twitter that the Israeli attack last midnight “caused only limited losses,” calling on Iranian citizens to remain calm and not listen to “rumors,” and to follow the news from the official media and the air defense headquarters.
Mohajerani praised what she described as “the strength and power of the nation’s youth who revived national pride.”
In the meantime, the American website Axios revealed that Israel sent a message to Tehran before the attack on Iran, warning the Iranians against responding, according to what three informed sources told the website, indicating that the message was an attempt to limit the mutual attacks between Israel and Iran, and avoid a greater escalation.
For its part, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that Cairo “is following with great concern the dangerous and accelerating escalation in the Middle East, the latest of which was the Israeli attack on Iran this morning”. Cairo also condemned “all measures that threaten the security and stability of the region and lead to fueling the fragile situation in the region and igniting the state of tension and intensifying the conflict in the region.”
It also confirmed that Egypt “warns of the risks of the current escalation that may lead – whether intentionally or as a result of miscalculations – to the region slipping into a dangerous confrontation that threatens regional and international security.”
“Egypt stressed its position calling for a quick ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, within the framework of a deal whereby hostages and prisoners are released, as this is the only way to reduce escalation and the basis that will lead to establishing the required calm in this critical circumstance in the region” the ministry added.
Also on Saturday, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron, in which they stressed the need for restraint and an end to the cycle of mutual targeting that is putting the entire Middle East on the brink of a regional war, threatening the capabilities of all the peoples of the region.
The two presidents reviewed the ongoing efforts to cease fire in Gaza and Lebanon, and to urgently deliver humanitarian aid in sufficient quantities. The two presidents also stressed the need to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, affirming their support for the Lebanese state institutions.
In the meantime, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq condemned the Israeli aggression on Iran. While the United States and Germany called for not responding to the Israeli strikes.
Furthermore, the European Union said in a statement that “the dangerous cycle of attacks and responses could lead to a new expansion of the regional conflict. While recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself, the European Union calls on all parties to show the utmost restraint in order to avoid an uncontrollable escalation that serves no one’s interests.”
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