Tehran on Monday called on Western nations to "appreciate Iran's restraint" towards Israel after it attacked its regional foe in response to a deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
"Instead of making accusations against Iran, (Western) countries should blame themselves and answer to public opinion for the measures they have taken against the... war crimes committed by Israel" in its war against Tehran-backed Hamas in Gaza, said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.
Kanani said Western countries "should appreciate Iran's restraint in recent months".
World leaders urge Israel not to retaliate for the Iranian drone and missile attack
AP reports: World leaders are urging Israel not to retaliate after Iran launched an attack involving hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told the BBC on Monday the U.K. does not support a retaliatory strike, while French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris will try to “convince Israel that we must not respond by escalating.”
The Iranian attack on Saturday, less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building, marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
An Israeli military spokesman said that 99% of the drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted.
Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel’s six-month war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others.
An Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,000 people, according to local health officials.
