Iran attack was ‘declaration of war’, Israeli president says – but insists ‘we are seeking peace’
Iran’s attack on Israel was a “declaration of war”, Israel’s president has told Sky News.
Isaac Herzog said it was “about time the world faces this empire of evil in Tehran”.
World leaders need to “make it clear” to the Iranian regime that its behaviour is “unacceptable”, Mr Herzog added.
“We should be looking lucidly at the phenomena called Tehran and Iran.”
Israel has not sought war since its creation in 1948, the president insisted. [Continue reading…]
Iranian airports remain closed as it awaits Israeli retaliation following yesterday's attack
'The fact that Israel opened its airspace immediately after the attack was over means Israel has no intentions, in the immediate future, to attack Iran,' explains @yossi_melman pic.twitter.com/vIwER2Y5eV
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) April 14, 2024
President Biden: “I will convene my fellow G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.” [Emphasis mine]
Axios reports:”President Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a call on Saturday that the U.S. won’t support any Israeli counterattack against Iran, a senior White House official told Axios.”
Tehran has warned it will strike again with greater force if Israel or the US retaliate for the Iranian strike on Israel that used more 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night.
The air raids, the Islamic Republic’s first ever direct attack on the Israeli state, brought a years-long shadow war into the open and threatened to draw the region into a broader conflagration as Israel said it was considering its response.
“Our response will be much larger than tonight’s military action if Israel retaliates against Iran,” the Iranian armed forces’ chief of staff, Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, told state TV, adding that Tehran had warned Washington that any backing of Israeli retaliation would result in US bases being targeted. [Continue reading…]