Iran’s attack on Israel: Archenemies trade war of words

Israel and Iran traded threats yesterday after Tehran's first-ever direct attack on its arch-foe sharply heightened regional tensions.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Iran would not get off "scot-free" after Iran and its allies launched a barrage of over 300 missiles, drones and rockets at Israel at the weekend.

"We cannot stand still from this kind of aggression," Hagari said, a day after Israel's military chief vowed there would be "a response" to Iran's offensive.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday convened Israel's war cabinet for the third time in three days, an official said, to decide on a response to Iran's first-ever direct attack on the Jewish state.

Iran said its attack was an act of self-defence following a deadly Israeli air strike on its consulate in Syria, and that it would consider the matter "concluded" unless Israel retaliated.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi warned that "the slightest action against Iran's interests will definitely be met with a severe, extensive and painful response".

US President Joe Biden stressed on Monday that "the United States is committed to Israel's security" and wants to prevent the conflict from spreading.

Washington, Israel's top ally and arms supplier, has made clear it will not join Israel in any attack on their common adversary Iran, a senior US official said.

World leaders have urged restraint and de-escalation.

During a phone call with Iran's Raisi, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on both sides to "prevent a new round of confrontation fraught with catastrophic consequences for the entire region", the Kremlin said.

Israel was weighing its options after the Iranian drone and missile onslaught, which caused little damage as Israeli defences intercepted most projectiles, helped by US, British and French forces as well as regional allies.

It remained unclear when Israel might strike and whether it would target Iran directly or attack its interests or allies abroad, including in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has been trading regular cross-border fire with Israel, claimed an attack with two explosive drones near a northern Israeli town yesterday, which the local council said wounded three people.

Also yesterday, an Israeli strike killed a local Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon, a source close the group and the Israeli military said.

The deadly strike was followed by fresh rocket fire at Israel which Hezbollah said was "in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks".

Israel made its first official comment Monday on the strike that levelled a five-storey Iranian consulate building on April 1, killing seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards including two generals.

"These were people who engaged in terrorism against the State of Israel," Hagari said.

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen yesterday said Iran's attack on Israel last weekend and its financing of militant groups in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq threatened stability in the Middle East and could cause economic spillovers.

Yellen began remarks prepared for a news conference by addressing what she called an unprecedented attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies, saying the Treasury would use its sanctions authority and work with allies to "continue disrupting the Iranian regime's malign and destabilizing activity."

The United States is using financial sanctions to isolate Iran and disrupt its ability to fund proxy groups and support Russia's war in Ukraine, the Treasury Department said.

Treasury has targeted more than 500 individuals and entities connected to terrorism and terrorist financing by the Iranian regime and its proxies since the start of the Biden administration in January 2021, Yellen said.

That has included targeting Iran's drone and missile programs and its financing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Houthis in Yemen, Hizballah in Lebanon, and Iraqi militia groups, she said.

"From this weekend's attack to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Iran's actions threaten the region's stability and could cause economic spillovers," Yellen said, without giving details.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on 32 countries to impose sanctions on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and their missile programme, he said on social media.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who was scheduled to head to Israel yesterday, urged the European Union to impose sanctions on Iranian drone technology.