(Adnkronos) – Italy’s government has called on Iran to avoid reprisals for the barrage of attacks the Israeli Defence Forces said they carried out at the weekend against “military targets” to avoid an escalation of conflict in the region.
“Iran should not retaliate because escalation must be avoided,” foreign minister Antonio Tajani said in an interview with Il Messaggero daily on Monday.
“Israel has carried out a targeted action in retaliation to a targeted attack. This is not a generalized war,” Tajani underlined.
“A sense of responsibility must prevail. Everyone must do their part and Iran must also convince (militant Lebanese group) Hezbollah, (Yemen-based) Houti militants and Syrian militiamen not to attack Israel again,” he said.
“Let diplomacy win out,” Tajani said.
Israel said the attacks were retaliation for a barrage of over 180 missiles fired against it by Iran earlier in October in a large-scale attack that further heightened fears of an all-out regional war.
The IDF said they hit around 20 targets in the three-hour attack including missile manufacturing facilities, surface-to-air-missiles and other military sites.
The Iranian military confirmed that four soldiers had died, two “while battling projectiles” during the air strikes.