Iran summons envoys of UK, France, Germany after strikes on Israel

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN (AA) - Iran's Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned the ambassadors of UK, France and Germany over "irresponsible positions" regarding Tehran's retaliatory strikes against Israel.

In a statement published in local media, the ministry said the ambassadors of the three European countries were summoned for "irresponsible positions" to a "series of actions" by Israel against Iranian nationals.

It referred to the recent attack on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus, which resulted in the killing of seven Iranian military officials, including a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In response to the consulate attack, IRGC's aerospace force launched a barrage of drones and missiles late on Saturday at Israel, escalating tensions between the arch-foes.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in a statement posted on X, condemned the attack on Israel, calling it "reckless" and vowed to support Tel Aviv.

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne also took to X to decry the attack, saying Iran has "reached a new low in its acts of destabilization and is risking a military escalation."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also condemned the unprecedented Iranian strikes on Israel "in the strongest possible terms", his spokesman said, terming the attack "irresponsible and unjustifiable."

Prior to the attack, many Western officials had dialed Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, calling for restraint and de-escalation.

Iranian officials justified the attack with the country's envoy to the United Nations Saeid Iravani saying it was in accordance with the Article 52 of the United Nations charter.

Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of general staff of Iranian armed forces, in remarks on Sunday morning warned Israel and the US against further attacks on Iran.

He said the response from Iran will be "severe."