Taoiseach calls for an end to conflict in the Middle East as tensions between Iran and Israel worsen

LAST UPDATE | 22 hrs ago

TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS has once again called for peace in the Middle East and a deescalation, as Iran has said it has a duty to defend itself after an Israeli attack targeted military sites in the country overnight, killing two soldiers. 

It comes almost a month after Israel vowed to avenge a missile barrage that raised fears of a full-scale Middle East war.

“Iran has the right and the duty to defend itself against foreign acts of aggression,” Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement, citing Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

The Israeli military said its “precise” strikes hit Iran’s missile manufacturing facilities, missile installations and other systems in several regions. It warned Iran it would “pay a heavy price” if it responded.

Iran’s air defence forces confirmed an Israeli attack had targeted military sites in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, causing “limited damage”. The armed forces said later two soldiers were killed in the strikes.

“The army of the Islamic Republic of Iran lost two of its fighters during the night when they faced projectiles from the criminal Zionist regime in defence of its territory,” a statement carried by Iran state television said.

The Israel Defence Force confirmed it had launched airstrikes on military targets in Iran early this morning, officials said.

Two Israeli officials said that IDF airstrikes against Iran were not targeting nuclear or oil facilities.

Israel said its aircraft “struck missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year”.

The military statement said: “These missiles posed a direct and immediate threat to the citizens of the state of Israel.”

It offered no damage assessment, but added it had “struck surface-to-air missile arrays and additional Iranian aerial capabilities, that were intended to restrict Israel’s aerial freedom of operation in Iran.”

There was no immediate indication that oil or missile sites were hit – strikes that would have marked a much more serious escalation.

In a statement released this evening, the Taoiseach said that the “continued escalation of conflict between Israel and Iran would be a disaster in a region where so much death and destruction is already taking place.

“There must be an end to the tit-for-tat violence which is risking a wider regional conflict that would only cause even more suffering for civilians.”

He said that all sides need to focus on ending the conflicts.

“We need a ceasefire in Gaza and hostage deal as well as a ceasefire in Lebanon and a surge in humanitarian assistance to those who are in desperate need. Only in these circumstances can we find the way to a political solution and path to a durable peace,” he continued.

He said that all sides should respect international humanitarian law, with an obligation to protect civilians, and added that Israeli attacks on Northern Gaza were “in violation of this obligation.”

“We must see an end to the horrendous suffering of civilians in Gaza and Lebanon and ensure that there is full accountability for those responsible for what can only be considered war crimes.

“All actors in the region must pull back from any further escalation and we must have a ceasefire.”

Explosions heard

Iranian state media reported the sound of explosions around the capital Tehran without immediately elaborating.

An Israeli military statement said that Israel “has the right and the duty to respond.”

“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since 7 October – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” the statement read.

It also did not elaborate on the targets.

Iranian state television later identified some of the blasts as coming from air defence systems, without offering more details.

International flights began diverting around western Iran as news of the strikes broke, flight-tracking data has shown. An advisory to pilots said Iran had closed the country’s airspace.

The country’s Civil Aviation Organisation has confirmed that flights have since resumed.

In Tehran, the Iranian capital, the sound of explosions could be heard, with state-run media saying some of the sounds came from air defence systems around the city.

A Tehran resident told The Associated Press that at least seven explosions could be heard, which rattled the surrounding area. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

In Syria, the state news agency SANA citing an unnamed military official, reported “barrages of missiles from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan and Lebanese territories targeted some military sites in the southern and central regions” early on Saturday.

It said that Syria’s air defences had shot some of the missiles down.

There was no immediate information on casualties.

Reaction

The strike happened just as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was arriving back in the US after a tour of the Middle East, where he and other US officials had warned Israel to tender a response that would not further escalate the conflict in the region and exclude nuclear sites in Iran.

A senior White House official said the administration believed the Israeli operation should “close out” the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran, saying other allies were in agreement.

Advertisement

US President Joe Biden was updated as the operation was developing and by his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, as the operation was carried out by the Israelis, the official said.

Secretary of defence Lloyd J Austin spoke with Israeli minister of defence Yoav Gallant to receive updates and reaffirmed the commitment of the US to Israel’s security and right to self-defence.

The official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said the Israeli operation “was extensive, it was targeted, it was precise.” The official underscored that the US had no involvement in the strike.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said it is time “for the attacks and counter attacks by Israel and Iran to stop”. 

I repeat the urgent call for restraint and de-escalation following the aerial strikes by Israel on targets in Iran.

“Innocent men, women and children on all sides have suffered far too much. The implications for the region and beyond are far too serious for the world to ignore any more,” he said. 

Martin said the priority must remain an immediate ceasefire, a hostage release deal and massive humanitarian aid into Gaza, and a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and political pathway in Lebanon.

“I urge all involved to redouble their efforts to achieve this now. In particular, the attacks on northern Gaza must stop. What we are seeing unfold is beyond any moral compass.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Tehran not to retaliate.

“I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression and I am equally clear that we need to avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to show restraint,” Starmer told a press conference. 

“Iran should not respond. We will continue to work with allies to de-escalate the situation across the region.”

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz also warned Iran against any “escalation”.

“My message to Iran is clear: massive escalating reactions must not continue. These must stop immediately. Only then can we open the possibility of a peaceful evolution in the Middle East,” Scholz posted on X.

Militant group Hamas, which is at war with Israel in Gaza and backed by Iran, blasted Israel.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the Zionist aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the targeting of military sites in several provinces”, the movement said in a statement, calling the move “a blatant violation of Iranian sovereignty and an escalation that threatens the security of the region”.

The European Union warned against “the dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliations”, which could lead to a full-scale regional war.

“While acknowledging Israel’s right to self-defence, the EU calls on all parties to exercise utmost restraint to avoid an uncontrollable escalation, which is in no one’s interest,” the 27-nation bloc said in a statement.

‘Dangerous escalation’

Jordan said the strikes were “in violation of international law and (Iran’s) sovereignty, and a dangerous escalation that leads to more tension in the region.”

Foreign ministry spokesman Sufyan Qudah called on the international community to “assume its responsibilities and take immediate measures to impose a halt to the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon as a first step towards reducing the escalation”.

Saudi Arabia condemned Israel and warned against any further expansion of the conflict in the Middle East.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its condemnation and denunciation” of the Israeli strikes, the foreign ministry said, repeating its “firm position rejecting escalation of the conflict in the region”, which “threatens the security and the stability of countries and peoples” in the Middle East.

Israel had vowed to hit Iran hard since the country launched a missile attack targeting Israel on 1 October.

Iran said its barrage was in response to deadly Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon and it has promised to respond to any retaliatory strikes.

Israel and Iran have been bitter foes since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The countries have been locked in a years-long shadow war. A suspected Israeli assassination campaign has killed top Iranian nuclear scientists. Iranian nuclear installations have been hacked or sabotaged, all in mysterious attacks blamed on Israel.

Meanwhile, Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on shipping in the Middle East in recent years, which later grew into the attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping through the Red Sea corridor.

But since Hamas’ 7 October attack, the battle has increasingly moved into the open. Israel has recently turned its attention to Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into Israel since the current conflict in Gaza began.

Hamas’s attack which triggered the current conflict in Gaza resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 42,847 people, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Palestinian health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.

Throughout the year, a number of top Iranian military figures have been killed in Israeli strikes in Syria and Lebanon.

Iran fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel last April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria on an Iranian diplomatic post.

The missiles and drones caused minimum damage, and Israel – under pressure from Western countries to show restraint – responded with a limited strike.

With reporting by Press Association and © AFP 2024

Want to be your own fact-checker? Visit our brand-new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for guides and toolkits

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More Support The Journal