Update on condemnations of the Iranian attack
Iranian missile attacks Tuesday evening against Israel were widely condemned by the international community, but hailed as a “heroic” attack by Palestinian Hamas.
HIM: “I condemn the widening conflict in the Middle East,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “This has to stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire,” he added, deploring “escalation after escalation.”
UNITED STATES: American President Joe Biden reaffirmed that the United States “fully supported” Israel, targeted by an Iranian attack which was “repulsed” and proved “ineffective” according to him. His head of diplomacy, Antony Blinken, deemed this attack “totally unacceptable”, adding that “the whole world must condemn it”. “Early reports suggest that Israel, with the active support of the United States and other partners, effectively foiled this attack,” he said, referring to the fact that Iran had fired something “200 ballistic missiles”. For his part, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that “this attack must have consequences for Iran.”
Suisse: The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) says it is “gravely concerned” by the Iranian missile attack on Israel on Tuesday evening. Switzerland strongly condemns it and calls on the parties to the conflict to cease hostilities. The latter “must stop immediately in order to allow a de-escalation”, writes the DFAE.
European Union: The 27 “condemn in the strongest terms” the Iranian attack, declared the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell. “The dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks spiraling out of control. An immediate ceasefire throughout the region is necessary,” he said on X.
Germany: Berlin has ordered Iran to stop its missile attacks, saying it fears an escalation of fighting. “I condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing attack,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on the abyss.
Spain: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the Iranian missile launches and called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the region. The head of Spanish diplomacy José Manuel Albares added that his country was launching “a new call to all actors, including Israel of course, for restraint, de-escalation and responsibility”.
Russia: Moscow said Tuesday that the explosive situation in the Middle East demonstrated the “total failure” of American policy in the region and Washington’s “powerlessness” to prevent an escalation, after the massive missile attack by Iran against Israel. “This is the complete failure of (President Joe) Biden’s administration in the Middle East. A bloody drama that is only getting worse. The inarticulate statements from the White House demonstrate total impotence in resolving the crises,” said Russian diplomatic spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
France: French Prime Minister Michel Barnier expressed concern about an “escalation” in the Middle East and the “direct conflict which seems to be underway” between Iran and Israel, deeming the situation “extremely serious”.
Japan: The new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday deemed the attack carried out by Iran against Israel “unacceptable”, after an exchange with American President Joe Biden. “Iran’s attack is unacceptable. We strongly condemn it. At the same time, we want to cooperate (with the United States) to defuse the situation and prevent it from degenerating into all-out war,” Shigeru Ishiba declared the day after his appointment as prime minister.
United Kingdom: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the Iranian attack “in the strongest possible terms,” reiterating the United Kingdom’s “firm commitment” “to the security of Israel.” The Labor leader “underscored the importance of a ceasefire in Lebanon”, the scene of Israeli strikes against Hezbollah, and called once again for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages, according to a Downing Street statement.
Canada: Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly “unequivocally condemned” the Iranian missile launches. “These attacks by Iran will only serve to further destabilize the region and must stop,” she added. “We need a ceasefire and we need this war to stop.”
Hamas: The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas welcomed the Iranian attack, saying it was “revenge” after the assassinations by Israel of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah. Hamas “welcomes the heroic missile strikes carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran against large swaths of the occupied territories” (Israel), indicated the Palestinian movement, specifying that these strikes were “revenge for our martyrs heroic”.
