Allies call for restraint after Israel’s attack on Iran — as it happened

The United States has imposed sanctions on organisations it said raised funds for violent extremists in the West Bank.

Washington had previously sanctioned five settlers and two unauthorised outposts in the West Bank in two rounds of sanctions.

One group, Mount Hebron Fund, launched an online fundraising campaign that raised $140,000 for the settler Yinon Levi, the Treasury Department said, after he was sanctioned on February 1 for leading a group of settlers that assaulted Palestinian and Bedouin civilians, burnt their fields and destroyed their property. It said the second entity, Shlom Asiraich, raised $31,000 on a crowdfunding website for David Chai Chasdai, who the US says initiated a riot that resulted in the death of a Palestinian civilian.

“Such acts by these organisations undermine the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank. We will continue to use our tools to hold those responsible accountable,” Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the Treasury, said in the statement.

The Treasury has also imposed sanctions on Ben-Zion Gopstein, founder and leader of the right-wing group Lehava, which opposes Jewish assimilation with non-Jews. The Treasury said that group members had engaged in violence, including assaults on Palestinian civilians.

Qatar expressed its “deep regret” over the failure of the United Nations to adopt a draft resolution recognising a Palestinian state.

The resolution was vetoed by the US, while the UK abstained. Doha called it “a sad day for justice and a setback for efforts to bring peace to the region”.

Its foreign ministry said: “The failure of the security council to adopt the draft resolution reveals, time and again, its inability to carry out its responsibilities and role within the framework of maintaining international peace and security, especially in light of the brutal war on the Gaza Strip, which led to the worst humanitarian disaster the world has ever witnessed in the twenty-first century.”

Qatar has played a central role in the crisis, hosting hostage negotiation talks, but has found itself under increased criticism from some in the US who question the country’s closeness to the Hamas leadership, some of whom live in Doha.

Demonstrators wave Palestinian and Iranian flags as they march in Tehran after Friday prayers

AFP

A former Iranian foreign minister has dismissed Israel’s attack in Isfahan as “reckless fireworks”.

In a statement posted on Twitter/X, Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the incident diverted “international public opinion from Israel’s atrocities”.

He said: “All countries and leaders should focus on ending Israeli transgressions, particularly its war on Gaza.”

He added that the overnight US veto of a United Nations resolution to grant a request for full UN membership for a Palestinian state was “clearly a step in the wrong direction”.

Palestinian paramedics carry away bodies uncovered near Al-Shifa hospital

AFP

The number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of Israel’s military offensive in October has passed 34,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry, run by Hamas.

It said 34,012 people had died and 76,833 had been injured in the past six months.

Iranian state TV broadcast what it said was a live picture of the city of Isfahan on Friday morning

ATTA KENARE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

People living in Isfahan heard three explosions very early Friday morning and thought a war had started as they were so unusual and loud (Haroon Janjua writes).

Mehdi Karim, who lives in the city, said: “I saw a few strange fire objects in the air followed by the explosions. They were not missiles but small objects. I don’t know if they caused any damage. The people were terrified and thought a war had started.”

The UN secretary-general called for an end to “the dangerous cycle of retaliation” in the Middle East.

Antonio Guterres condemned “any act of retaliation” and called on the international community to prevent “any further development that could lead to devastating consequences for the entire region and beyond”, his spokesman said in a statement.

French police secure the area around the Iranian consulate

REUTERS

A man was arrested in the Iranian consulate in Paris amid reports that he had been seen entering the building with an explosive device (Adam Sage writes in Paris).

An elite police squad was deployed to the consulate after staff raised the alert.

BFM, the rolling news channel, said the man claimed he was wearing a suicide vest. He is reported to have said that he wanted to “avenge his brother”. BFM was unable to give further information.

Separately, it was reported that a witness called the emergency services to say they had seen the man entering the consulate wearing a suicide vest.

BFM said that after four hours the man walked out of the consulate on his own volition and was arrested. He was not wearing a suicide vest when he left the building. His car, which was parked outside, was searched.

The French authorities asked the consulate for permission for police explosive experts to search the building but Iran stalled on this and negotiations were still under way.

There was no confirmation of a link to Israel’s latest attack on Iran.

A senior Iranian military official said that Tehran would use its “powerful air defence” to repel any further attacks by Israel as world powers urged both sides to show restraint in the mounting crisis.

Kioumars Heydari, commander-in-chief of the Iranian army’s ground forces, said his country would remain vigilant and would shoot down any “suspicious flying objects”.

Earlier, Tehran had ruled out any immediate retaliation.

The global nuclear watchdog has said that no nuclear sites were damaged in the attack. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, led calls for a de-escalation of the crisis.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said the US was committed to Israel’s security but emphasised that America had not been involved in any military operation in Iran.

Blinken, speaking at the G7 gathering in Italy, declined to respond to claims that Israel gave Washington advance notice of the action. He said the US and G7 were working to de-escalate tensions in the region.

He said Israel had been hit by an “unprecedented attack” and that the US was focused on “making sure Israel can defend itself”.

On Gaza, he blamed Hamas for the lack of a ceasefire but said the US did not support any plans for an attack on Rafah and that any such assault “would have catastrophic consequences on the civilian population”.

Australia has told its citizens in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories to leave “if it’s safe to do so” because of the growing military tensions.

The Department of Foreign Affairs posted a travel advisory on its website, saying: “There’s a high threat of military reprisals and terrorist attacks against Israel and Israeli interests across the region.” It added that the security situation could deteriorate quickly with little or no notice.

It said that military attacks could cause closures and travel disruptions, and that Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion international airport could pause operations over heightened security concerns at any time.

Previously, the Australian government had advised citizens to reconsider travel to these areas, or whether to remain in the region, but had stopped short of asking them to leave.

Turkey has warned that the growing tensions between Iran and Israel risk “turning into a permanent conflict”, and blamed Israel for the most recent escalation.

“In light of the latest developments, it is becoming increasingly evident that the tensions that were initially caused by Israel’s illegal attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus risk turning into a permanent conflict,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We call on all parties to refrain from steps that could lead to a wider conflict. The priority of the international community should be to stop the massacre in Gaza and to ensure lasting peace in our region by establishing a Palestinian state.”

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, is the latest leader to call on all in the Middle East to ensure that there is no further escalation in the region.

At an event on the North Sea island of Norderney on Friday, Scholz noted that there were reports of more “military activity” during the night.

He said: “I can’t and don’t want to say more about it than that for us, a very clear principle goes for all: everyone must now and in the near future ensure that there is no further escalation of the war.”

He said that Germany would talk with “all our friends and allies” about de-escalation.

The US has told the G7 that it received “last-minute” information from Israel about the latest strike.

Foreign ministers from the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada are meeting today in Capri, Italy.

The Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said that Washington had told the G7 ministers that it had been “informed at the last minute” but that “there was no sharing of the attack by the US — it was a mere information”.

Tajani warned of new sanctions against Iran for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.

Israel’s airforce says it has hit a military structure belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon earlier today.

In an edited, grainy video released by the IDF, a person alleged to be a militant can be seen walking before the video cuts to a large explosion reportedly in the area of Ayta ash Shab, just over half a mile northeast of Israel’s border with Lebanon.

According to the IDF, Hezbollah milita were spotted by surveillance soldiers charged with collecting intelligence, who then called in the strike.

Since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the border between Israel and Lebanon has erupted in near-daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli troops.

The overnight airstrikes highlighted the “disparity” between the Israeli and Iranian militaries but was just “a fraction of what Israel could conceivably do”, the director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute has said.

Matthew Savill said there was a “neat symmetry” to the targeting of an airbase outside Isfahan, given the Iranian attacks on the Nevatim airbase in the Negev desert six days ago.

“Iran had to fire over a hundred ballistic missiles to get four or five through Israeli air defences. But the Israelis might have fired just a handful at a military base, signalling the disparity in relative air defences,” he said.

“It doesn’t hurt that Isfahan is near some nuclear facilities. It makes the not so subtle point: ‘We could if we wanted to’.”

He added: “I think the main aim of the attack overnight was to demonstrate the conventional disparity, with the nuclear signalling a secondary benefit.”

Israel would need to launch a “huge” attack with US support to wipe out Iran’s nuclear facilities, but the strikes overnight may have been designed to show “we could if we wanted to”, a military expert said (George Grylls writes).

Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, said that a full-blown Israeli barrage would pose a “serious challenge” to Iranian air defences, which he described as an “eclectic” mix of Russian launchers, Chinese radars and Tehran’s domestically produced versions of foreign systems.

He also noted the previous lack of co-ordination between different Iranian air defence units, evident when a Ukrainian commercial plane was mistakenly shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2020, killing all 176 people on board.

But Savill said that Iran had spread out its nuclear facilities across the country — an area bigger than France, Germany and Spain combined — complicating the logistics of an Israeli attack. “Any strike that would actually be intended to set the Iranian nuclear programme back would have to be huge. It would probably need US involvement.”

An Israeli newspaper claims that members of Binyamin Netanyahu’s inner circle have criticised the security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, for suggesting that Israel’s response against Iran was “disappointing”.

According to The Times of Israel, sources close to the prime minister hit back at Ben Gvir for damaging Israel’s national security and said that the hardline minister “was and remains childish and irrelevant to any discussion”.

Yair Lapid, the opposition leader, also criticised Ben Gvir over his comment.

Rishi Sunak said the facts were not yet clear

GETTY

Rishi Sunak declined to speculate on reports that Israel carried out an attack on Iranian soil early this morning.

“It’s a developing situation. It wouldn’t be right for me to speculate until the facts become clearer and we’re working to confirm the details together with allies,” the prime minister said after a speech in central London.

“Significant escalation is not in anyone’s interest. What we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region.”

Russia has joined the growing list of countries calling for a de-escalation in the Middle East.

The Kremlin said it was studying information on Israel’s reported strike on Iran. It called on both sides to show restraint.

Iran has supported Russia both diplomatically and militarily since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, regularly delivering arms, including drones, to Russia. On Thursday Moscow called for sanctions against Israel for its failure to call a ceasefire in Gaza.

The US is considering a weapons deal with Israel worth more than $1 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The deal would include tank ammunition, military vehicles and mortar rounds, US officials told the paper. It would need to be signed off by congressional leaders

This would be in addition to military aid already being considered by Congress. A vote on that aid package, worth about $26 billion, is due to take place this weekend.

Although there has been no official confirmation from Israel that it carried out the reported strikes on Iran, one member of the Israeli parliament appears to have suggested that there is a little doubt who was responsible.

“Good morning dear people of Israel, a morning in which the head is held high with pride. Israel is a strong and powerful country,” Tally Gotliv, a member of Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, wrote on Twitter/X.

She added: “May we regain the power of deterrence.”

Israeli operations have continued in Gaza, with its military posting pictures of “eliminating a number of terrorists throughout the last day”.

In one post on X/Twitter the Israel Defence Forces posted footage of an explosion and said: “Two terrorists who approached our forces were killed in an aircraft attack.”

Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, has accused the national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, of doing “heavy damage” to Israel’s security, image and international standing (Gabrielle Weiniger writes).

Yair Lapid accused Israeli’s security minister of undermining the country’s international standing

JACQUELYN MARTIN/AP

Lapid’s comment came after Ben Gvir called the attributed-Israeli strikes on Iran “disappointing” in a dismissive, one-word tweet that was also picked up and retweeted by Tasnim, a semi-official news agency in Iran.

“Never before has a minister in the security cabinet levelled such heavy damage to the country’s security, image and international standing,” Lapid said in a post on Twitter/X. “In an unforgivable one-word tweet, Ben Gvir has managed to mock and shame Israel from Tehran to Washington.”

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has added to calls for restraint to avoid further escalation in the Middle East.

“We have to do everything possible [so] that all sides restrain from the escalation in that region,” she said during a visit to Finland. “It is absolutely necessary that the region stays stable and that all sides refrain from further action.”

Several EU countries, including France and Spain, have made similar pleas this morning.

Iran may have relied on Russian air defences to intercept the Israeli airstrikes overnight (George Grylls writes).

Tehran uses the Russian S-300 air defence system, which became fully operational in 2019. Developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s, the S-300 can shoot down planes, drones and ballistic and cruise missiles up to 93 miles away. The system is widely used in Ukraine, and Iran is reportedly looking at purchasing the upgraded S-400 system.

Iran has produced air defences domestically, including Raad or “Thunder”, which Tehran has boasted is designed to shoot down US fighter jets.

Its air force remains relatively weak, however, relying on nine F4 and F5 fighter jets bought before the Iranian revolution in 1979. Tehran also has one squadron of Russian Sukhoi-24s, and a number of Mig-29s, F7s and F14s, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in London.

Having supplied Russia with thousands of Shahed “kamikaze” drones for its war in Ukraine, Tehran is looking to deepen its defence partnership with Moscow by purchasing two dozen Su-35 fighter bombers, which would dramatically modernise its air force.

Egypt has said it was “deeply concerned” about the “continued mutual escalation” between Israel and Iran.

In a statement, Cairo warned of the consequences of the conflict expanding in the region.

This week Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, urged both Israel and Iran to show “self-restraint” during direct phone calls to his counterparts in the two countries.

Iran had promised a “massive and harsh response” to “even the tiniest invasion” by Israel, but has now poured cold water over reports of an attack on its territory (Samer Al-Atrush writes).

Minutes after explosions were heard over Isfahan, a central city that is home to a large military base, Iranian state media rushed to play them down as a handful of tiny drones, and an official said there was no plan to retaliate.

It is not clear whether this was Israel’s full revenge for Iran’s own direct attack last Saturday, or merely the beginning of reprisals. But if it ends here, Israel has just provided the region, and its western allies who called on it to stand down, an off ramp from a war with Iran that nobody wanted. It carried out a strike as it promised, but on a scale so minute that Iran could pretend it never happened.

China’s foreign ministry has said that it opposes any actions that “escalate tensions” in the Middle East.

Several countries had warned that a retaliatory attack by Israel against strikes by Iran would risk dragging the entire region into a wider regional war.

Israel’s strikes are thought to have targeted Iranian nuclear sites in the city of Isfahan, where three small Chinese-supplied research reactors are located.

Isfahan in central Iran is “back to normal” following the air strikes and residents will hold a demonstration in support of Gaza after Friday prayers, the Iranian Students’ News Agency said.

It said the city’s airport was also operating again.

Earlier, Iranian state TV said that the attack had caused “no damage” in the city.

The strikes were near Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility

REUTERS

The former head of Israel’s defence intelligence said the attack showed that Israel could match Iran’s weapon capabilities with only a few strikes.

“This move wasn’t to achieve a big response from Iran, rather to show them that we can respond, and Israel’s ability to do so,” the retired Major General Amos Yadlin, a former fighter pilot, told Israel’s Channel 12.

“Iran sent Israel hundreds of missiles and failed to cause any damage; Israel sent Iran one, two or three — very few missiles — but managed to hit the exact parallel target to where Iran hit. A major airbase like Israel’s Nevatim, that houses its air force, fighter jets and maybe a missile defence system. It was also close to Natanz uranium enrichment facility.”

France is urging both sides to de-escalate their conflict and exercise restraint.

Jean-Noël Barrot, deputy foreign minister, said: “The attacks last weekend [by Iran] were unacceptable and France expressed its full solidarity with Israel while calling for de-escalation.”

He declined to comment on Israeli strikes on Iran overnight but said: “Israel has the right to defend itself against the attacks it has suffered within the rules of international law.”

Israel’s latest missile strike on Iran came only hours after the US vetoed a United Nations resolution to grant a request for full UN membership for a Palestinian state.

The vote in the 15-member security council was backed by 12 countries, with the US opposing and two countries — Britain and Switzerland — abstaining.

France and Japan backed the resolution, which had widespread support. Despite its use of the veto, Washington maintained that it still supported a two-state solution.

“This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood,” said Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN.

Oil prices, gold and safe-haven currencies rose and stock markets fell after the reports of Israeli strikes in Iran, but the reaction became more muted as details emerged that the attacks were limited.

Brent crude rose by as much as $3 a barrel in the immediate aftermath of the strikes, pushing the price above $90, but it slipped back to trade up 1 per cent at $88. Gold rose by $7 an ounce to $2,386.77 after reaching more than $2,400 at the end of last week in expectation of Iranian retaliation to an earlier attack on Iran’s embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

The FTSE 100 has opened about 30 points down at 7,847.41. The fall was not as sharp as in equity markets in Asia, where Japan’s Nikkei dropped 2.7 per cent.

Mel Stride would not comment on the reported strikes on Iran

SIMON DAWSON/ NO 10

Israel has “a right to defend itself” but the UK is pushing towards de-escalation, a cabinet minister has said.

Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, refused to say whether the UK supported Israel’s reported missile strike in Iran.

He told Sky News: “I don’t want to get into hypotheticals, because the question you’ve asked begs many other questions as to what form exactly that retaliation may or indeed may not have taken.”

Earlier he told Times Radio: “We are pressing our Israeli allies and others in the region to really work hard towards de-escalation.”

On Saturday Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel, 99 per cent of which were intercepted by Israel with help from allies.

Khamenei has been supreme leader since 1989

ATTA KENARE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The latest strike came on the 85th birthday of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The date of the strike was described by experts as symbolic and not coincidental. Khamenei has been supreme leader since 1989. There was plenty of celebrating online from pro-Israeli supporters about the timing of the latest strike, with many sarcastically wishing Khamenei a happy birthday.

Oman, which has acted as a mediator in the Middle East, condemned the suspected Israeli attack on Iranian soil as well as “the repeated Israeli military attacks in the region”.

A spokesman said that the sultanate’s foreign ministry “appealed to the international community to address the causes and roots of tension and conflict through dialogue, diplomacy and political solutions, and to focus on ceasefire efforts in Gaza”.

On Wednesday Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman al-Safadi, said that an Israeli retaliation against Iran’s strikes last weekend could drag the whole region into a “devastating war” that would have serious implications for the rest of the world.

“The risks are enormous” he said. “I think the message that should be conveyed to all is that escalation will help no one.”

Binyamin Netanyahu is coming under increasing pressure from Itamar Ben-Gvir

GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Israel’s national security minister appeared to belittle the alleged Israeli strikes on an Iranian air base, tweeting a one-word response: “Disappointing.”

Itamar Ben Gvir used Hebrew slang with a word that can also be interpreted as “poor show” (Gabrielle Weiniger writes).

A senior Iranian official has said that there is no plan for immediate retaliation after the strike.

The official was quoted by Reuters as saying that there was “no clarification” about who was behind the strike.

Earlier, US officials confirmed that Israel had carried out fresh military operations against Iran but did not give any detail about the operations.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said there had been no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites after the alleged attack by Israel.

The agency said it was monitoring the situation very closely and pleaded for extreme restraint by all sides. It added that nuclear facilities should never be a target.

Isfahan, where the reported strike took place, operates three small Chinese-supplied research reactors and handles fuel production and other activities for Iran’s civilian nuclear programme.

It is also home to the underground Natanz enrichment site.

Iranian state TV said that all atomic sites in the area were “fully safe”. General Siavosh Mihandoost, a local army commander, said the incident caused “no damage” around Isfahan.

This week Iran had warned that it might have grounds to review its “nuclear doctrine” if Israel targeted its atomic facilities. The comment was made by a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander as speculation increased on the possibility of a fresh strike by Israel.

The incident raised concerns about the conflict escalating again in the seas of the Middle East, where Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen have been attacking ships in protest at the war in Gaza.

The British military’s Maritime Trade Operations centre warned ships in the region that they might see increased drone activity in the skies. “There are currently no indications commercial vessels are the intended target,” it wrote.

The Houthis have launched at least 53 attacks on shipping since November, according to US authorities, seizing one vessel and sinking another. Houthi attacks have declined in recent weeks as the rebels were targeted by a US-led airstrike campaign in Yemen and as the threat led to fewer ships passing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

A Syrian war monitoring group said that Israel had conducted a strike on a military radar installation in the country, hours after apparent Israeli strikes targeted Iran.

The strike hit a radar installation in western Syria, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

A western official told The Times that Israel had struck at least one site in Iran, something Tehran quickly denied. Iranian officials said that air defences had been activated in Isfahan against what they described as small drones.

Israel had promised to retaliate after Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles against the Jewish state last week. The US and other countries had called on Israel to stand down or at least temper its response to avoid all-out war with Iran.

Iran fired air defence batteries on Friday morning after reports of explosions near a major airbase at the city of Isfahan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. The agency reported that the country’s nuclear facilities were “completely safe”.

A video of the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Centre, a uranium conversion facility near Isfahan, was published by Iran’s Tasnim news agency as purported proof that the site was not damaged. It featured a man checking his watch at about 5.47am before focusing on what appeared to be an anti-aircraft gun.

Several Iranian nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, the centrepiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme.

If confirmed, the strikes follow days of intensive international diplomacy aimed at preventing a wider conflagration in the Middle East.

On Saturday Tehran launched a barrage of more than 300 ballistic and cruise missiles, and armed drones, at Israel. The attacks caused only minimal damage. Iranian officials said their actions were in response to the deaths on April 1 of seven leading members of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp in a strike on a building close to the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the casualties including its top commander in the country. Israel has not denied carrying out the attack.

Israel had come under pressure from the US, Britain and other countries who fear a broader war in the region to call off its retaliation for the Iranian attack on Saturday.

The Iranian state’s Press TV quoted officials denying there had been any attacks, saying air defences had been activated earlier to intercept drones.

Hossein Dilirian, the spokesman for Iran’s space agency, said that there were no missile strikes inside the country but that air defences had shot down some quadcopter drones fired from inside Iranian territory. “A failed attack, with a few quadcopters,” he wrote on Twitter/X.