‘Understand Israel’s need to respond but…’: S Jaishankar on Iran-Israel conflict
Dr Jaishankar stated that New Delhi is concerned about the overall situation in West Asia and not just the Israel-Lebanon war.
Israel is believed to have been preparing for a retaliatory strike against Iran after Tuesday’s missile attack. According to a report by Axios, Tel Aviv could target Iranian oil production and its air defence system.
The report, citing unnamed Israeli officials, also claimed that targeted assassinations of senior Iranian leaders is also under consideration.
Iran launched around 180 ballistic missiles at Israel Tuesday night. It said the attack was a response to Israeli aggression, including the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in June early this year and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last week.
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After the missile attack, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran has made a big mistake and that it will pay for it.
Iran, however, said that its attack will multiply if Israel launches any retaliatory strikes.
Israel is also concerned about the likely Iranian response to its retaliation.
“We have a big question mark about how the Iranians are going to respond to an attack, but we take into consideration the possibility that they would go all in, which will be a whole different ball game,” the report quoted an Israeli official as saying.
Israel could also respond with targeted airstrikes using fighter jets. However, a decision has not yet been made, as Israel wants to discuss it with the US government.
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