The United States is urging other countries through diplomatic channels to tell Iran that escalation in the Middle East is not in their interest, a State Department spokesperson says.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called it a “critical moment” for the region and says Washington is “engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock” to help calm tensions amid fears Iran is preparing a retaliatory strike against Israel.
“All parties must refrain from escalation,” Blinken said during a signing ceremony with Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Washington.
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“All parties must take steps to ease tensions. Escalation is not in anyone’s interests. It will only lead to more conflict, more violence, more insecurity.”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran last week, an attack that drew threats of revenge on Israel and fuelled further concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war.
Iran has blamed Israel and said it will “punish” it; Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility for the killing.
Iran backs Hamas, which is at war with Israel in Gaza, and also the Lebanese group Hezbollah, whose senior military commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut last week.
At least five US personnel were wounded in a rocket strike on Iraq’s al Asad airbase on Monday.
It was unclear whether the attack was linked to threats by Iran to retaliate over Haniyeh’s killing, in which the US said it had no involvement.
“One of the points of the engagements that we have had is to urge countries to pass messages to Iran and urge countries to make clear to Iran that it is very much not in their interests to escalate this conflict, that it is very much not in their interest to launch another attack on Israel,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Iran’s ambassador in Australia faces backlash
In Australia, comments from Iran’s ambassador calling for Israel to be wiped out have been condemned by Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
Remarks on social media from ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi on Saturday called for a “wiping out” of Israelis in Palestine by 2027, while also referring to Israelis as a “Zionist plague”.
Wong criticised the remarks, saying they were inconsistent with national values.
“Those comments are inflammatory and they’re repugnant, and they do not represent Australia,” she said.
“We maintain a diplomatic relationship with Iran because we seek to further Australia’s interests; that is why we continue to engage, including in relation … to the importance of de-escalation, given the circumstances we face in the Middle East.”
Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have held talks with Sadeghi following the social media comments.
But opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson called for the federal government to take further action against the ambassador.
“If he wasn’t an ambassador, it’s highly likely (the comments) would fall afoul of Australia’s anti-incitement and racial vilification laws,” he told ABC Radio on Tuesday
“If he is wantonly breaking the law like that and inciting violence against the community … it is incumbent on the government to take action.
“They have options available to them under the Vienna Convention, including declaring an ambassador to be persona non grata.”