Iran's ambassador to the United Nations said Saturday's missile and drone attack against Israel occurred in self-defense, and Iran had no other choice but to carry it out.
– Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani, said in a speech he delivered before the UN Security Council on Sunday evening, that the Security Council had failed in its mission of maintaining international peace and security, referring to the Israeli air attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus in Syria earlier. From this month. .
Therefore, Iran had no other choice but to respond to that, he said in his speech.
Iravani said that Iran is exercising its “legitimate right to self-defense.”
The Iranian envoy to the United Nations added that Iran “does not want escalation or war,” but will respond to any “threat or aggression.”
Threatening new attacks
Authorities in Tehran have warned that Iran will carry out an attack several times larger than Saturday's attack if Israel carries out counterattacks against Iran.
– If the Zionist regime wants to continue evil against Iran, the country will receive a response at least ten times greater than our previous attack, said a statement issued by the Iranian National Security Council, reported by the Iranian news portal Nour. News.
The statement continued that Iran chose the mildest form of punishment against Israel and only attacked military targets, and this came a day after Iran carried out a missile and drone attack against Israel.
The Iranian attack came in response to an Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on April 1. Two Iranian generals and several others were killed there.
It was not clear as of late Sunday evening whether or how Israel would respond to Saturday's attack.
The Iranian National Security Council is headed by the country's president and consists of several ministers and generals.
Disagreement
Israeli officials say the Israeli Defense Cabinet supports a response to the Iranian attack, but has not yet decided on the timing and scope of the response.
The war cabinet, which includes five government members, met on Sunday to discuss the situation following the missile and drone attack launched by Iran the night before.
The war cabinet consists of, among others, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz.
US President Joe Biden made clear in a conversation with Netanyahu on Sunday night that the United States would not participate in any Israeli attack on Iran if Israel decided to do so.
It could strengthen Netanyahu
Experts point out that escalating the conflict with Iran could benefit the Israeli government in several ways.
This means that interest in Gaza is decreasing, says Roozbeh Parsi of the Foreign Policy Institute in Sweden.
This is the first time ever that Iran has carried out a direct attack on Israeli territory. The attack was announced in advance and was in response to the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1.
Parsi believes that the Damascus attack was likely an attempt by Israel to provoke Iran into making a strong response, at the same time that they wanted to leave a mark against Iranian-backed militias in the region. The Israeli government can reap many gains from this development, according to Parsi.
Many world leaders condemned the Iranian attack and expressed their support for Israel, and the United States, Jordan, Great Britain, and France all participated in shooting down Iranian missiles and drones heading for Israel.
Reports from Congress in the United States of America indicate that progress may soon be made in working on a new support package for Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may also benefit personally from instability. In Israel, before the Gaza War, there were demonstrations across the country against the Netanyahu government, and recently protests against Netanyahu have increased in Israeli streets.
Once the fighting stops, some kind of truth commission will be formed in Israel to clarify who exactly is responsible for what happened in the Hamas attack against Israel in October. Parsi says that as long as there is some kind of war or conflict going on, he can postpone it.
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