UK warns against ‘further escalations’ between Iran and Israel

A banner in Tel Aviv advertising the opening of an Iranian embassy, which was later revealed as a PR ploy for upcoming movie “Atomic Falafel”.

Israel said it attacked almost all of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria on Thursday after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time.

Iran’s foreign minister will embark on a diplomatic tour to try to salvage the nuclear deal amid high tensions following the USA withdrawal and global fears over reports of unprecedented clashes with Israel in Syria. Israel has largely tried to stay on the sidelines, but has previously acknowledged carrying out over 100 airstrikes over the past seven years, most believed to be aimed at Iranian weapons shipments bound for the Hezbollah militant group.

The intense barrage of air attacks has discouraged Iran from immediate retaliation, Israeli intelligence officials told ministers Thursday.

It was a seemingly firm statement from Johnson, but he offered no response to claims that Israel had attacked Syria, targeting Iranian positions near the capital Damascus the day before.

Some of the rockets were deflected by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, while others caused damage to Israeli military facilities.

During the talks, Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide and Japanese top diplomat Tarō Kōno expressed their countries’ support for the continued implementation of the Iran nuclear deal.

“I have established a basic principle: Whoever strikes us, we are going to strike them”, Netanyahu said. There were no Israeli casualties.

Galant said Iran was “an imperialist terrorist nation…they’re spread out in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon in an attempt to create an axis from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea…to surround us and create a war of attrition between ourselves and the Arabs”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported that dozens of rockets were fired from Syria towards the Israeli-occupied Golan, without saying who fired them. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.

The Israeli military said that a unit of Iran’s revolutionary guard had launched 20 artillery rockets into the Golan Heights shortly after midnight on Wednesday.

Syrian air defense forces Thursday downed over half of about 70 missiles fired by Israel at targets on Syrian territory, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Syrian media earlier said the hostilities began with Israeli fire at Syrian positions in southern Syria from across the border. She adds that the latest Israeli opinion polls show Netanyahu’s Likud party with its best showing in a decade.

According to Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, his country is “facing a new reality where Iran is attacking Israel directly and trying to harm Israel’s sovereignty and territories”. At least 15 people were killed in the strike, including eight Iranians, according to the Observatory.

“They agreed it was vital for the global community to continue working together to counter Iran’s destabilising regional activity, and for Russian Federation to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks”.

However, the Israeli army did not say how they were able to determine that Iran’s troops were behind the attack.

European allies are scrambling to save the hard-fought deal but have found themselves increasingly critical of Washington’s stance.