Brazil says Israel’s attack on Iran worries; US talks about self-defense

The United States said Israel’s strikes were an “exercise in self-defense.” Spokesperson for the US National Security Council, Sean Savett, said that Israel’s operation avoided populated areas and “concentrated only on military targets”, according to a report by Al Jazeera. “Unlike Iran’s attack on Israel which targeted Israel’s most populous city,” Savett told reporters.

We call on Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation. Sean Savett told reporters

US President Joe Biden says the operation should “end” attacks between Israel and Iranaccording to a White House official. Biden was being updated as the Israeli operation unfolded, the official said.

“US commitment is to Israel’s security and right to self-defense”Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder wrote on X.

At the UN, the attacks were condemned by Secretary-General António Guterres, who fears an even greater scale of tension in the region. “Following the overnight attacks carried out by the Israeli Defense Forces against targets in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Secretary-General is deeply alarmed by the continued escalation in the Middle East. All acts of escalation are reprehensible and must cease,” he said Guterres’ spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.

According to him, the secretary-general “urgently reiterates his appeal to all parties to cease all military actions, including in Gaza and Lebanon, make every effort to avoid a widespread regional war and return to the path of diplomacy.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer calls on Iran not to respond to wave of attacks. “I am certain that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. I am equally certain that we need to avoid further regional escalation and call on all sides to show restraint. Iran must not respond,” he told a news conference.