The world is worried about a new war in the Middle East. Is Israel responding to Iran’s attack despite warnings? And if so, when? Meanwhile, sanctions are being imposed against Iran. The news at a glance.
While Israel’s closest allies are urging Israel to refrain from a harsh counter-reaction after the major Iranian attack, the Jewish state reserves its own decision on how to proceed.
The US government does not expect a possible Israeli counterattack on Iran before the end of the month, according to a report on ABC. An unnamed senior U.S. government official told ABC that a counterstrike was previously considered “unlikely,” although that could always change. The US government official was referring to the end of the Jewish Passover holiday on April 30. The Passover festival, which begins next Monday evening, commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and their liberation from slavery.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and other leaders are on high alert, the government official also said, according to the report. Some stayed in safe places or underground shelters.
At the same time, the broadcaster reported, citing three Israeli government officials, that Israel had been preparing for retaliatory strikes against Iran for at least two nights this week, but then called them off.
“The Middle East is on the brink”
The EU called on both Israel and Iran to refrain from further attacks on each other. All parties are urged to exercise extreme restraint and not to take any action that could increase tensions in the region, said a statement from the heads of state and government released at the EU summit in Brussels.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also once again called for “maximum restraint” in the Middle East before the UN Security Council. “The Middle East is on the brink,” Guterres said at a panel meeting in New York. “In recent days there has been a dangerous escalation – in words and actions. One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake could lead to the unimaginable – a major regional conflict that would be devastating for everyone involved and for the rest of the world. This moment of Maximum danger must be the time for maximum restraint.”
Iran: Did not use modern weapons against Israel
According to their own statements, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards did not use their most modern missiles in their major attack on Israel. “We acted against the Zionist enemy with old weapons of minimal strength,” the Tasnim news agency quoted the commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Aerospace Forces, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, as saying.
A year ago, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards presented a fourth version of a medium-range missile of the “Khorramshahr” type, which can be equipped with a 1.5-ton warhead. Another unused Sedzhil rocket is said to be able to reach Israel in around seven minutes. Iran continually introduces new types of weapons, but the developments cannot be independently verified.
According to Iranian state media, medium-range missiles such as “Emad” and “Kheibarshekan” were used in the attack on Sunday night. The “Paweh” cruise missile was also fired. The rocket strikes were accompanied by swarms of drones. The same kamikaze drones called Shahed 136 were sent out, which Russia also uses in the fight against Ukraine.
Iran’s foreign minister defended the massive missile and drone attack on Israel before the UN Security Council. The attack was carried out as a “legitimate defense under international law,” said Hussein Amirabdollahian in New York before the most powerful body in the United Nations. He cited the suspected Israeli airstrike on Iran’s embassy compound in Syria on April 1 as the reason. He criticized the US, Britain and France for not condemning the attack.
USA and Great Britain impose sanctions against Iran
After the Iranian attack on Israel, the USA and Great Britain impose sanctions on Tehran. The US government had already announced the step, and today the Treasury Department published the details. The sanctions therefore target the drone program as well as the steel industry and automobile manufacturers in the Islamic Republic. According to the information, those affected include 16 individuals and companies whose technology was used for the drones used in the attack on Israel.
According to US information, revenue from the Iranian steel industry amounts to several billion US dollars a year, which is generated primarily from exports.
Britain is sanctioning six Iranian organizations and seven individuals, including the country’s defense minister and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard fleet, the British Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday. The measures included entry bans and asset freezes.
Iran also faces new sanctions from the EU.
Qatar wants to rethink its role as a mediator
Meanwhile, the Gulf emirate of Qatar wants to rethink its role as a mediator in the war between Israel and Hamas. Qatar’s role had to some extent been abused for political purposes, said Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in the capital Doha. He did not elaborate on who and what he meant specifically.
“This has caused Qatar to completely reassess its role and we are currently in this phase,” Al Thani said. Negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of further hostages who were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip during the attack by Islamist terrorists on Israel on October 7th last year have been underway for months with the mediation of Qatar, the USA and Egypt. However, a breakthrough in the negotiations is currently not foreseeable.
For the first time, relief supplies were handled through the port of Ashdod
Meanwhile, aid deliveries for the Gaza Strip were handled there for the first time since the opening of the port of Ashdod in southern Israel. Eight transporters with flour were checked and then brought to the coastal area, said the Israeli army and the Israeli Cogat authority, which is responsible for contacts with the Palestinians and humanitarian aid.
However, the World Food Program (WFP) trucks drove into the sealed-off coastal area via the Kerem Shalom border crossing in the south – not via Erez in the north of the Gaza Strip, which Israel also recently announced would be opened. There was no indication when that might happen. Kerem Shalom has long been used for aid deliveries. According to experts, there is a risk of famine in parts of the sealed-off Gaza Strip, especially in the north.