Pakistan strongly condemns Israel’s attack on Iran

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan strongly condemned unjustified and illegitimate aggression by Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran, ARY News reported quoting MoFA.

According Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israeli military strikes violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and clearly contravene the UN Charter and fundamental principles of international law. Iran has the right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

The press release further stated that Pakistan stands in resolute solidarity with the people of Iran and unequivocally denounces these blatant provocations, which constitute a grave danger and a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the entire region and beyond, with serious implications.

The international community and the United Nations bear responsibility to uphold international law, stop this aggression immediately and hold the aggressor accountable for its action.

Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions including at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, while Israel declared a state of emergency in anticipation of retaliatory missile and drone strikes.

Iranian state television reported that Hossein Salami, the chief of the elite Revolutionary Guards corps, had been killed and the unit’s headquarters in Tehran had been hit. Several children had been killed in a strike on a residential area in the capital, it said.

“We are at a decisive moment in Israel’s history,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded video message.

“Moments ago Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”

Israel targeted Iranian scientists working on a nuclear bomb, its ballistic missile program and its Natanz uranium enrichment facility, in an operation that would continue for days, he said.

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An Israeli military official said Israel was striking “dozens” of nuclear and military targets including the facility at Natanz in central Iran. The official said Iran had enough material to make 15 nuclear bombs within days.

Alongside extensive air strikes, Israel’s Mossad spy agency led a series of covert sabotage operations inside Iran, Axios reported, citing a senior Israeli official. These operations were aimed at damaging Iran’s strategic missile sites and its air defence capabilities.

Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed until further notice, and Israel’s air defence units stood at high alert for possible retaliatory strikes from Iran.