A Escalation in the Middle East That would have “catastrophic consequences,” warned the Russian president Wladimir Putin to his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi, said the Kremlin. The conversation came amid an escalation in tensions after Israel vowed to respond to Iran’s unprecedented attack.
In a telephone conversation, “Vladimir Putin expressed his hope that all parties would show appropriate restraint and avoid a new round of confrontation that would have catastrophic consequences for the entire region,” a Kremlin statement said.
The United States also called on the international community to exercise restraint, fearing an escalation of the war in Gaza that could spread throughout the Middle East.
However, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reiterated that his country would respond “harshly” to “the slightest action” by Israel against “Iran’s interests.”
Calls are growing to dissuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government from launching a response that could increase tensions in the Middle East, where Israel has been in Gaza for more than six years with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi promised his country’s response on Monday during a visit to Israel’s Nevatim military base in the south of the country, which was hit by more than 300 drones and missiles.
Israel also announced this Tuesday that it would launch a “diplomatic offensive” against Iran and called on 32 countries to impose sanctions against the Revolutionary Guard of the Islamic Republic and its missile program, explained Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
Britain and France also distanced themselves and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Sunday that the Middle East was “on the brink of the abyss”.
AFP.
