Iran vows swift response to Israeli attack

Iran vowed to respond to an Israeli attack “within seconds” as Jerusalem prepares to strike the regime in retaliation for a major drone and missile attack on Saturday. 

“We categorically declare that the smallest action against Iranian interests will certainly be met with a severe, widespread and painful response against any perpetrator,” Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi told Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

Raisi also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, telling him that Iran isn’t interested in an escalation. Putin told Raisi that further escalation would have “catastrophic consequences for the entire region.”

“Vladimir Putin expressed hope that all sides would show reasonable restraint and prevent a new round of confrontation fraught with catastrophic consequences for the entire region,” Putin said according to a statement released by Kremlin.

Kremlin added that both Iran and Russia agree that the “root cause of the current events in the Middle East is the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“In this regard, the principled approaches of Russia and Iran in favour of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, easing the difficult humanitarian situation, and creating conditions for a political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis were confirmed.”

Meanwhile the European Union said it was “exploring how to expand sanctions already imposed on Iran.”

Washington reportedly also prepared to impose fresh sanctions on Iran. “Treasury will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions authority to continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilising activity,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said according Axios.

“The attack by Iran and its proxies underscores the importance of Treasury’s work to use our economic tools to counter Iran’s malign activity,” she reportedly added.