Iran rejects Western calls to refrain attacks against Israel

Iran has rejected calls from the UK and other Western nations to refrain from retaliating against Israel for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month.

In the midst of intense international diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a rare telephone conversation on Monday to “stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack.”

However, President Pezeshkian, according to Iranian state media, asserted that retaliation was a “way to stop crime” and Iran’s “legal right.”

While Israel has not confirmed its involvement in Haniyeh’s assassination, it has raised its military to the highest alert level. The US has warned of potential “significant attacks” by Iran or its proxies as soon as this week and has increased its military presence in the Middle East to support Israel.

Additionally, the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon has threatened retaliation over the killing of one of its top commanders in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut.

On Monday evening, the leaders of the UK, France, and Germany issued a joint statement urging Iran and its allies to “refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions.”

“They will bear responsibility for actions that jeopardise this opportunity for peace and stability,” Sir Keir, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

Later, the British Prime Minister also expressed his deep concerns directly to Iran’s president by telephone – the first such call since March 2021.

Sir Keir told Mr. Pezeshkian that “there was a serious risk of miscalculation and now was the time for calm and careful consideration,” according to Downing Street.

“He called on Iran to refrain from attacking Israel, adding that war was not in anyone’s interests,” it added.

On Tuesday morning, the Iranian state news agency Irna reported that Mr. Pezeshkian had told Sir Keir that Western countries’ support for Israel had encouraged it to “continue atrocities” and threatened peace and security.

“Pezeshkian stated that from the point of view of the Islamic Republic of Iran, war in any part of the world is not in the interest of any country, emphasizing that a punitive response to an aggressor is a legal right of states and a way to stop crime and aggression,” Irna added.

The Iranian foreign ministry separately rejected the call for restraint from London, Paris and Berlin.

“Such demands are void of political logic, in complete contradiction to the principles and rules of international law, and excessive,” spokesman Nasser Kaanani said.

The Israeli military said on Monday that it was taking Iran’s statements seriously.

“We are prepared at peak readiness in offence and defence, and we will act according to the directives of the government,” spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a briefing.

An Israeli government spokesman meanwhile warned Iran and its allies that Israel would “exact a heavy price for any aggression against us from any arena”.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters: “We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here. [It] could be this week.”

“It is difficult to ascertain at this particular time if there is an attack by Iran and or its proxies, what that could look like, but we have to be prepared,” he added.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has dispatched a second aircraft carrier strike group as well as a ballistic missile submarine to the Middle East to reinforce what the Pentagon said was the “United States’ commitment to taking every possible step to defend Israel”.

The US believes that a new ceasefire deal in Gaza, along with the release of Israeli hostages, would be the best way to calm regional tensions and has called for talks to resume on Thursday.

Israel has announced it will send a team of negotiators to finalize the deal, while Hamas has expressed a willingness to participate despite the killing of its leader. Hamas stated on Sunday that any agreement must be based on the status of negotiations from a month and a half ago, rather than starting new discussions.

The conflict began when Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza to dismantle Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, during which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

Since then, more than 39,920 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory. Additionally, hundreds have died in the nearly daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military across the Israel-Lebanon border since the day after the conflict started.