International calls for de-escalation were launched by several countries and organizations, a few hours after the attack carried out in Isfahan, Iran. Tel Aviv hasn’t confirmed the strike nor Tehran accused Israel, in a desire to return to the status quo ante.
“I’m not going to speak to these reported events… All I can say is for our part and for all the members of the G7, our focus is on de-escalation”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a press conference at a Group of Seven nations meeting in Italy, underlining the lack of concrete information over what happened in Iran.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with radio stations, “There have been telephone contacts between the leadership of Russia and Iran, our representatives and the Israelis. We made it very clear in these conversations, we told the Israelis that Iran does not want escalation.”
“IAEA can confirm that there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites. Director General Rafael Grossi continues to call for extreme restraint from everybody and reiterates that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts. IAEA is monitoring the situation very closely,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said on X.
European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said “We have to do everything possible (so) that all sides restrain from the escalation in that region … It is absolutely necessary that the region stays stable and that all sides refrain from further action.”
“China opposes any actions that further escalate tensions and will continue to play a constructive role to de-escalate the situation,” said foreign ministry spokesman, Lin Jian, for his part.
“It is becoming more and more clear that the initial tensions provoked by Israel’s illegal attack against the Iranian embassy in Damascus risks transforming into a permanent conflict,” the Turkish Foreign ministry, Hakan Fidan, said while the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, called “all the parties to abstain from any measure that could lead to a wider conflict.”
“We have condemned Iran’s reckless and dangerous barrage of missiles against Israel on Saturday and Israel absolutely has a right to self-defence. But as I said to Prime Minister Netanyahu, significant escalation is not in anyone’s interest, what we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region,”
With AFP