West Asia crisis LIVE: Israel delays Rafah offensive plan as focus shifts to Iran

US president Joe Biden has vowed to uphold Israeli security ahead of a meeting with Iraq’s prime minister, according to a report by Reuters.

Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, speaking alongside Biden, said their views may be divergent about what is happening in the region.

France said it has summoned the Iranian ambassador to condemn the Iranian attack on Israel, the French foreign ministry said Monday.

“He was reminded, with the greatest firmness, of France’s condemnation of the attack,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that France was working with its partners to de-escalate the situation and calling on everyone to exercise restraint.

Israel has delayed its plans for a ground offensive on the Gaza city of Rafah following Iranian attack over the weekend. The war cabinet of the Jewish nation is now mulling over how to respond, CNN reported citing Israeli sources.

The Israeli Air Force was set to begin dropping leaflets on parts of Rafah on Monday, two Israeli sources said.

French President Emmanuel Macron told Israel to not make things worse in the crisis and to avoid escalating the situation in the region. European leaders, along with the US, joined in urging Israel to be careful in its response to Iran's attack, hoping to prevent a bigger war.

Tehran will soon permit Indian authorities to meet with the 17 Indian crew members of a cargo vessel seized by Iran's military near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. This was communicated by Amir-Abdollahian to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during a phone call on Sunday, as reported by the Iranian foreign ministry.

The UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said he'll talk to Benjamin Netanyahu soon to find ways to stop things from getting worse in the region after Iran's drone and missile attack.

"I will also shortly be speaking to Prime Minister Netanyahu to express our solidarity with Israel in the face of this attack, and to discuss how we can prevent further escalation," Sunak said in a statement to parliament.

The British multinational low-cost airline, EasyJet announced that it has temporarily suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv following Iran’s unprecedented attack, reported the Times of Israel.

"Due to the evolving situation in Israel, EasyJet has taken the decision to temporarily pause operations to and from Tel Aviv until the 21st of April," said the EasyJet spokesperson Andy Cockburn in emailed comments. 

He added, "Customers on affected flights have been contacted directly via SMS and email via the details provided at the time of booking."

"The safety and security of our passengers and crew is always EasyJet’s highest priority," said the EasyJet spokesperson. 

This comes days after the UK-based airline resumed its operations to and from Israel at the end of March amid the ongoing war with between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. 

The United Kingdom rejects an assertion by Iran that it provided advance notice before attacking Israel, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday. 

This comes a day after the Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Tehran had warned neighbouring countries and Israel's ally the United States 72 hours before it launched the barrage of missiles and drones at Israel. 

"I would reject that chracterisation," Sunak's spokesman told reporters. "And more broadly we condemn in the strongest possible terms their direct attack against Israel."

The Portuguese-flagged cargo ship, the MSC Aries which was seized by Iran on April 13, and has 17 Indian crew members on board was taken for “violating maritime laws,” Iran’s foreign ministry says, adding that there is no doubt the vessel is linked to Israel.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) seized the cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz days after Tehran vowed to retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Damascus, earlier this month. 

“Iran strives to create a safe shipping environment in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf. The vessel was diverted into Iran’s territorial waters as a result of violating maritime laws and not answering calls made by Iranian authorities,” said spokesperson Nasser Kanaani.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on Monday urged Israel to exercise restraint after it successfully repelled Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack. 

"Everyone agrees that the way in which Israel managed to successfully repel this attack...is really impressive," said Scholz, while speaking in Shanghai during a three-day visit to China.

"That is a success that should not be given away, and therefore our advice is to contribute to de-escalation," he added.

Scholz also hit out at the "brutal Iranian attack" and said Tehran "must stop this aggression".

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani on Monday (Apr 15) said that no pre-arranged agreement was made with any country prior to Iran's retaliatory attack against Israel.

As a precautionary measure against the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, the Dutch embassy in Iran's capital, Tehran, will remain closed to the public, officials have declared.

Additionally, the Dutch consulate-general in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, will also stay closed.

"The diplomatic missions in Tehran and Erbil will continue to carry out their other tasks as far as possible, with staff safety as their highest priority," said the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview has expressed his worry over a "possible escalation" and said France will do all it can to avoid an intensification of the conflict between Israel and Iran in the Middle East.

In an interview with BFM TV and RMC radio, he said "We condemned, we intervened and today we will do all we can to avoid things flaring up, escalating and therefore try to convince Israel that we must not respond by escalating, but rather isolate Iran, succeed in convincing the countries of the region that Iran is a danger, increase sanctions, increase pressure on nuclear activities and then find a path to peace in the region."
 

Two years of the Russia-Ukraine war and six months of the Israel-Hamas conflict are now followed ominously by Iran’s unprecedented airborne attack on Israel. With West Asia facing the prospect of a major regional conflagration, these developments seemingly robbed the Indo-Pacific region of some of its salience. 

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French President Emmanuel Macron called Iran’s attack on Israel "disproportionate" to Israel's alleged strike on Tehran’s embassy in Damascus.

"We will do everything we can to avoid escalation and convince Israel it should not reply to Iran’s strike with further escalation," Macron told French media.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron also urged Israel not to retaliate.

"If you’re sitting in Israel this morning, you’re thinking quite rightly we have every right to respond to this and they do. But we are urging that they shouldn’t escalate," Cameron told Sky News.

"In many ways, this has been a double defeat for Iran. The attack was an almost total failure, and they revealed to the world they are the malign influence in the region. So our hope is there won’t be a retaliatory response."

Iran has resumed operations at the Imam Khomeini international airport and the Mehrabad airport in the capital, Tehran, according to the state-run Tasnim news agency.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday (April 14) warned the international community against descending deeper into conflict as Israel called for "all possible sanctions" against Iran.

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During a UN Security Council session, Israel envoy Gilad Erdan said: "The mask of Iranian deniability has been removed. No more hiding and no more bluffing. No more shirking of responsibility. Iran has attacked Israel from its own sovereign territory, publicly and proudly. The mask is off."

"Iran, the number one world sponsor of terror, has exposed its true face as the destabilizer of the region and the world... Right now is when the world must stop ignoring Iran’s crimes and take action," he said.

He added that "All of the terror groups attacking Israel are tentacles of the same Shiite octopus — the Iranian octopus," and urged members to "impose all possible sanctions on Iran before it’s too late."

Israeli fighter jets shot down a drone making its way toward Israel from the east, that is, the Syrian side, the military said.

The IDF said that the trajectory of the drone was tracked throughout the incident. At the same time, no sirens sounded in Israel as there was no threat to civilians.

Drones have been launched at Israel by an Iran-backed group in Iraq several times amid the war in Gaza.​

A US military official said on Monday Washington assessed that there was no significant damage within Israel following the Iranian attack. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has decided to lift the restrictions it had put in place amid threats of an Iranian attack on Israel.

Schools will not be allowed to reopen, though this will only have a limited impact as most are currently on Passover break, a report by The Times of Israel said. 

A restriction on gatherings of over 1,000 people has also been lifted. However, restrictions on gatherings and educational activities that have been imposed since October 7 last year for those near Israel’s northern and southern borders will remain, the IDF said. 

The Israeli war cabinet did not decide on Sunday as to how Israel would respond to Iran's unprecedented weekend attack. According to a report by The Times of Israel, Israeli officials said that the war cabinet favoured a retaliation against Iran, but was divided over the timing and the scale of any such response.

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Iran stated that it would give permission to the Indian govt representatives to meet the Indian crew onboard the seized cargo ship, MSC Aries. 

The breakthrough was made when India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Amir Abdollahian on Sunday (April 14).

The announcement was made in Iran's readout which said, "Dr. Amir Abdollahian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of our country, informed his Indian counterpart during a telephone conversation about Iran's legitimate defence and the punishment of the Israeli regime."

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The Israeli military said that the schools are set to reopen across the country on Monday after they were closed because of Iran’s attack over the weekend.

In a statement, the IDF said that after a “situational assessment”, “it was decided to restore educational activities across Israel”.

“In the areas of the northern border (with Lebanon) and communities near the Gaza Strip, educational activities will resume … with restrictions,” the statement added, further stating that curbs on large gatherings will be lifted in most places, as per Agence France-Presse.

The United States has issued a warning to Iran that if any action is taken against the US or Israel, then they will be held responsible. 

“Let me be clear, if Iran or its proxies take actions against the US or further action against Israel, Iran will be held responsible,” said US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood.

The United States is “not seeking escalation, our actions have been purely defensive in nature,” adding that the “best way to prevent such escalation is an unambiguous condemnation of the council of Iran’s unprecedented large-scale attack,” he added.

He further said that the US will explore "additional measures to hold Iran accountable here in the UN.”

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant discussed the situation in the wake of Iran’s attacks.

In a statement, the US Department of Defence said, "Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant today for a third time this weekend to review the successful combined operation by the United States, Israel, and their partners to defend Israel from unprecedented attacks launched from Iranian territory and by Iran’s proxies. The Secretary emphasised that while the United States does not seek escalation, we will continue to take all necessary action to defend Israel and US personnel." 

Reacting to Iran’s strikes on Israel, China appealed for restraint and called the attack “the latest spillover of the Gaza conflict”. They further appealed for the UN Security Council resolution's implementation demanding a ceasefire. 

"China calls on the international community, especially countries with influence, to play a constructive role for the peace and stability of the region," said Chinese government.

Meanwhile, Russia expressed “extreme concern over the latest dangerous escalation in the region” and urged all sides to “show restraint”.

“We are counting on the regional states to solve the existing problems with political and diplomatic means,” stated the foreign ministry.

Meanwhile,  Ukraine, which has been fighting against Russia’s invasion, said that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the attack and said that Iran’s actions “threaten the entire region and the world, just as Russia’s actions threaten a larger conflict”.

Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shared a video on X where she criticised the attack and called it as ‘unprecedented’.

Nato spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah stated that the military alliance is “monitoring developments closely”.  

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday (April 14) warned the international community against descending deeper into the conflict.

"Neither the region nor the world can afford more war. The Middle East is on the brink," said Guterres, while speaking at the Security Council. 

During the Security Council session, which was called by Israel to address the simmering crisis, Ambassador Gilad Erdan appealed to the council to "take action (and) condemn Iran for their terror."

Meanwhile, Iran's UN envoy Amir Saeid claimed that the Islamic Republic was exercising its "inherent right to self-defence."

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