The world has so-far been divided in its response to Israel’s attack on Iran this morning, with Western nations largely supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and neighbouring Arab nations condemning the strikes.
BritainRishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, called for “calm heads to prevail” as he reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself.
“We have condemned Iran’s reckless and dangerous barrage of missiles against Israel on Saturday and Israel absolutely has a right to self-defence,” he said.
“But as I said to Prime Minister Netanyahu when I spoke to him [this week] and more generally, significant escalation is not in anyone’s interest, what we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region.
FranceFrance’s deputy foreign minister said: “Israel is right to defend itself within international law”.
Germany“De-escalation remains the order of the day in the near future,” said Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor. “And we will also talk about this with all our friends and allies, and work together with them in this direction.”
RussiaMoscow has claimed it told Israel that Iran “does not want escalation”.
“There have been telephone contacts between the leadership of Russia and Iran, our representatives and the Israelis,” Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said. “We made it very clear in these conversations, we told the Israelis that Iran does not want escalation.”
ItalyAntonio Tajani, Italy’s foreign minister, has called for “absolute de-escalation” in the Middle East. “We invite everyone to be cautious to avoid an escalation,” he told RAI news.
The Netherlands Hanke Bruins, the Dutch foreign minister, described developments in the Middle East as “deeply worrying” and said “we are closely monitoring the situation”. “It is of paramount importance that further escalation is prevented,” she wrote on Twitter.
OmanOman hit out at Israel’s retaliatory strike, condemning “repeated Israeli military attacks in the region”.
ChinaLin Jian, Beijing’s foreign ministry said: “China opposes any actions that further escalate tensions and will continue to play a constructive role to de-escalate the situation.”
JapanYoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, said: “Japan is deeply concerned about the situation in the Middle East and strongly condemn [sic] any actions that lead to the escalation of the situation.
“Japan will continue to make all necessary diplomatic efforts to prevent the situation from worsening further.”
TurkeyTurkey’s foreign ministry has also called for de-escalation, saying the priority of the international community should be “to stop the massacre in Gaza and to ensure lasting peace” .
EgyptEgypt’s foreign ministry has said it is “deeply concerned” about an escalation of hostilities following Israel’s attack.
SwedenTobias Billstrom, Sweden’s foreign minister, said: “There has to be an end to the exchange of blows and escalation.
“This is something we from the government’s side take very seriously and are following very closely.”
Jordan“We warn against the danger of regional escalation. We condemn all actions that threaten dragging the region into war,” Jordan’s foreign ministry said. “Israeli-Iranian retaliations must end. The inhumane war on Gaza must end now. The focus of the world must remain on ending the catastrophic aggression on Gaza.”