Turkey condemns Israeli attack on Iran, calls on international community to ‘take immediate action’
Turkey has accused Israel of bringing the Middle East to the “brink of a major war” following a series of pre-dawn Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military bases.
“Eliminating the terror created by Israel in the region is a historic task in terms of establishing international security and peace,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It called on the international community to “take immediate action to enforce the law and stop the Netanyahu government.”
Turkey has been highly critical of Israeli military operations in Gaza and Lebanon while expressing support for Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel said it launched airstrikes early Saturday against Israel’s missile sites and surface-to-air missile sites, in response to a barrage of missiles the Islamic Republic fired into Israel earlier this month.
Iran launched a series of ballistic missiles at Israel less than a week after the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a day after operations on the ground in Lebanon began. The attack added to fears of a wider conflict in the region.
“Iran has attacked Israel twice, including in areas that put civilians at risk, and it has paid the price,” said Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm.
“We are focused on our military objectives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. It is Iran that continues to fuel regional expansion.”
Saturday’s attack took place as part of “Israel’s response” to attacks from “Iran and its proxies in the region,” Hagari said.
Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel overnight on Oct. 1, sent Israelis scrambling to bomb shelters and killed one person in the Israeli-controlled West Bank. Iran said the attack was in retaliation for attacks in previous months that killed leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranian military.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Beirut one week after an Israeli attack killed Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah. In Tehran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei justified Iran’s latest missile attack on Israel as ‘legal and legitimate.’
Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the airstrikes a clear violation of international law as it asserted Tehran’s right to defend itself, but not attack. it did not target the most sensitive oil and nuclear areas and did not vow immediate retaliation.
The White House has warned Tehran of retaliation, saying the strikes should end direct negotiations between Israel and Iran.
In Bahrain The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday condemned the actions of the Israeli army, and called for an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians and reduce regional tensions.
The attack risks drawing the arch-enemies closer to endless war at a time of heightened violence in the Middle East, where Iran-backed militant groups are already fighting Israel.
2 Iranian soldiers were reported killed
Iran insisted the strikes caused only “minor damage” and Iranian state media downplayed the attack. Iran’s military said two of its soldiers were killed in the attack, Iran’s Al-Alam Television reported.
Israel’s military said it carried out “direct strikes on military targets in Iran,” and, according to two Israeli officials, they did not target nuclear or oil facilities. These officials spoke but did not want to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to the media about ongoing work.
Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, without elaborating.
The airstrikes came in waves overnight near the capital Tehran and the Iraqi border. None of Iraq’s military, economic or civil facilities were affected, the Iraqi news agency quoted a security source as saying. They marked the first time Israel’s military had openly attacked Iran, which has not faced so much fire from a foreign enemy since its war with Iraq in the 1980s.
The leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, criticized the decision to avoid “strategic and economic objectives” in the attack. “We could and should have exacted a very heavy price on Iran,” Lapid wrote on social media X.
Egypt said it was following with “grave concern the rapid and dangerous escalation” in the region, including Israel’s attack on Iran, and warned of “difficult confrontation” across the Middle East.
The State Department said a ceasefire in Gaza was “the only way to reduce” tensions in the Middle East.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been at the forefront of efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement in Gaza, which includes the release of Hamas hostages, as well as Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Egypt’s flagship airline has canceled Saturday flights from Cairo to Baghdad and Erbil in Iraq and Amman, Jordan.
EgyptAir blamed the cancellation for “ongoing development in the region.”
Germany’s Scholz urges Iran to step down
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Iran to end tensions following Israeli strikes, saying restraint could pave the way for peace in the Middle East.
“My message to Iran is clear: We can’t continue with the big reaction of escalation. This must stop now. This will give the opportunity for peaceful development in the Middle East,” said Scholz in a post on the X social network.
Scholz said the Israeli attack was aimed at reducing casualties, and opening up the possibility of avoiding further escalation.
The United States said on Sunday it would send an advanced anti-missile system to Israel – and the US military to use it – in a bid to bolster the country’s air defenses following a missile attack by Iran. Learn more: cbc.ca/1.7351563
“The important thing is that the fighting in Gaza must be stopped and the hostages released. I invite all parties to do this. It is the same in Lebanon,” said Scholz.
Fears of a wider escalation in the Middle East have grown since then Iran is attacking Israel in response to Israel’s military action against Tehran’s allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The ongoing conflict in Lebanon, where Israel is conducting a campaign against Hezbollah to stop it from firing rockets into northern Israel, has raised the temperature even further.
The war in the shadows has come into the light since October 7, 2023, when Hamas and other militias attacked Israel. They killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped about 250 people to Gaza, according to Israeli officials. In response, Israel launched air and ground attacks against Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue fighting until all hostages are freed. There are 100 left, of whom about a third are believed to be dead. About 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials.
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