US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called upon China and other countries to use their influence over Iran to dissuade it from attacking Israel.
Blinken spoke to Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan and Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan “to make clear that escalation is not in anyone’s interest and that countries should urge Iran not to escalate,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
The US has assured Israel that it would strongly support Tel Aviv against the threats.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Israel “must be punished and it shall be” for attacking the Iranian embassy compound in Syria.
“When they attack the consulate, it is as if they have attacked our soil,” Khamenei said in a speech marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. “The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished and it shall be,” he added.
The relations between Iran and Israel nosedived following an Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing seven members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards including two generals.
The US has made public appeals to China from time to time to use its good office in the region to address the crisis in West Asia.
On Thursday, Netanyahu said Israel was preparing for conflict in other sectors.
“We are in challenging times. We are in the midst of the war in Gaza, which is continuing at full force, even as we are continuing our relentless efforts to return our hostages,” Netanyahu told air force personnel at a base.
“However, we are also prepared for scenarios involving challenges in other sectors. We have determined a simple rule: Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively,” he added.
With inputs from Reuters
