Attack at night

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Propaganda images in Tehran portray Iran as a powerful warring nation.

(Bild: AP)

Following drone attacks on Iran, the international community has called on Iran and Israel and their allies to avoid an escalation in the Middle East. "It is absolutely essential that the region remains stable and that all sides refrain from further action," said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a visit to Finland. Germany, France and Austria also called for de-escalation. The Arab states expressed their concern.

"Everyone must ensure now and in the near future that there is no further escalation of the war," said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday at an SPD conference on the North Sea island of Norderney. This is a position that Germany shares with its allies. "All I can say is that France's position is to call on all parties involved to de-escalate and exercise restraint," French Deputy Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told Sud Radio. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared that an escalation in the Middle East was in nobody's interest.

Propaganda images in Tehran portray Iran as a powerful warring nation.

(Bild: AP)

Schallenberg: "Situation highly dangerous"
In an interview with "Deutschlandfunk", Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) pointed out that there was still a lot that was unclear. "It must be clear to everyone: the situation is extremely dangerous. Any further escalation could trigger a chain reaction that no one would be able to control," said Schallenberg on Friday morning. Schallenberg described the fact that Israel was able to intercept the hundreds of projectiles from Iran on Sunday night as a "great achievement".

Any further escalation could trigger a chain reaction that no one would be able to control.

Österreichs Außenminister Alexander Schallenberg

Bild: AP

The Kremlin called on both sides to exercise restraint. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry expressed its "deep concern" about the ongoing mutual escalations between Israel and Iran. Egypt called on both parties to exercise maximum restraint and comply with international law, according to a statement issued by the ministry on Friday. The North African country wanted to establish closer contact with the affected and influential parties "in order to contain the ongoing tension and escalation", it added.

Oman calls for ceasefire in Gaza
Oman condemned the "Israeli attack on Iran" and the repeated Israeli attacks in the region, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The country called on the international community to address the causes of the conflict through diplomacy. The focus should be on efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza war in order to reach a "just and lasting solution".

Iranian state television reported that three drones had been spotted over Isfahan shortly after midnight. The air defense then destroyed these drones. No damage was reported. Israel did not comment initially. Israel had announced a response to the Iranian airstrike at the weekend. Iran had attacked Israel with hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and rockets on Sunday night. The background to this was an attack, presumably carried out by Israel, on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus, in which two generals from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, among others, were killed at the beginning of April.