Iran has strongly condemned Israeli air strikes on Lebanon, with the country’s President Masoud Pezeshkian accusing Israel of seeking to create wider conflict.
Pezeshkian says the West had been urging Iran not to retaliate so as not to jeopardies efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“We tried to not respond,” he said..
“They kept telling us we are within reach of peace, perhaps in a week or so,” he said. “But we never reached that elusive peace.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson warned Israel of “dangerous consequences.”
Lebanon’s health ministry says at least 356 people have been killed and more than 1,200 wounded in Israeli strikes today – the deadliest day of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict since 2006.
Lebanon’s health minister, Dr Firass Abiad, says tens of thousands of people have been fleeing their homes in the south of the country, adding that “the main aim of these attacks was to instigate this exodus of civilians from the target areas.”
