Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that calls from France, Germany and Britain for Tehran to stand down from its threats of a major attack on Israel “lack political logic and contradict principles of international law.”
The three European countries issued a statement on Monday calling on Iran and its proxies in the Middle East to refrain from attacks against Israel following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month.
Tehran, along with Hamas and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, have accused Israel of carrying out the assassination. The Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.
“Without any objection to the crimes of the Zionist regime, the E3 statement impudently requires Iran not to respond to a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.
Kanaani added that Tehran is determined to deter Israel and called on Paris, Berlin and London to “once and for all stand up against the war in Gaza and the warmongering of Israel.”
The ministry statement followed a statement from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday night, insisting that his country has “the right to respond” to any aggression, after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged de-escalation.
“While emphasizing diplomatic solutions to issues, Iran will never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying, and considers it has the right to respond to aggressors in accordance with international norms,” Pezeshkian said, according to a statement published by official news agency IRNA following a phone call with Scholz.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was at “peak alert” on Monday, with both Washington and Jerusalem sharing expectations that Iran could launch major attacks on Israel imminently.
Regional tensions have spiraled since Iran threatened retaliation against Israel for the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran last month. Iran’s proxy Hezbollah terror group has also vowed a major response to Israel’s killing of its top military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, several hours before Haniyeh’s assassination.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States had increased its regional force posture in recent days, which Channel 12 news reported was larger than its deployment ahead of Iran’s unprecedented attack on April 13-14, when the Islamic Republic fired some 300 missiles and drones at Israel, nearly all of which were downed by Israel and its allies.
The US ambassador to Turkey said on Tuesday that Washington was asking Ankara and other allies that have ties with Iran to persuade it to de-escalate tensions with Israel.
“We ask all of our allies that have any relations with Iran to prevail on them to de-escalate, and that includes Turkey,” Jeff Flake said at a round-table with journalists in Istanbul as he comes to the end of his posting in Turkey.
“They’re doing what they can to make sure that it doesn’t escalate,” he said of Washington’s Turkish interlocutors, adding that they “seem more confident than we are that it won’t escalate.”
Kirby also noted on Monday that the timing of any Iranian attack could affect Gaza hostage-ceasefire talks, currently scheduled to resume on August 15. Israel has confirmed that it will send a delegation to the talks, while Hamas has refused to attend.