India expresses deep concern over tensions between Iran and Israel, Appeals for diplomacy

India on Wednesday raised deep concerns about the latest attack on Israel by Iran, given the rapidly worsening situation in the Middle East. In order to prevent further strife in the region, the Ministry of External Affairs appealed in a statement that all sides refrain from attacking one another and return to dialogue and diplomacy.

“We are deeply concerned at the escalation of the security situation in West Asia and reiterate our call for restraint by all concerned and the protection of civilians,” said the MEA. “It is important that the conflict doesn’t take a wider regional dimension and we urge that all issues be addressed through dialogue and diplomacy,” it stated.

Tehran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel earlier on Tuesday in revenge for the deaths of multiple leaders of armed groups with ties to Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Iran’s missile attack on Israel failed and pledged vengeance, at the start of a security meeting in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night (October 1). “Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it,” he stated. “The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”

Iran’s Rationale for the Attack

The attack, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, was a reprisal for recent Israeli assassinations of militant leaders and violence in Gaza and Lebanon. For the first time, its forces used hypersonic Fattah missiles, with 90% of them hitting their targets in Israel, according to the Revolutionary Guards.

There were no reported injuries in Israel, but a man was killed in the occupied West Bank, according to local authorities. The Israeli military reported that, just after 7:30 p.m., it had detected 180 missiles fired from Iran. Israelis were instructed to remain in designated places while sirens wailed around the nation. Although there were some direct impacts that caused damage to houses and started some fires, an Israeli security official stated that the Israeli Air Force, working with the United States, intercepted a large number of the missiles. Later, US and British sources claimed that Iran had launched almost 200 missiles.

Iran said that the missiles were fired in retaliation for the deaths of Revolutionary Guard General Abbas Nilforushan and Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah, who were both assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last week. It also named Ismail Haniyeh, a key leader in Hamas who was killed in Tehran in a suspected Israeli attack in July. Without going into detail, it issued a warning that this attack was simply the “first wave.”

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