Israel pushes for new sanctions on Iran, urges countries to declare Revolutionary Guard a terror group
Fox News
Israel’s foreign minister on Tuesday said he is calling for additional sanctions on Iran in response to the missile and drone attack that targeted Israel over the weekend.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he sent letters to 32 countries urging them to impose new sanctions on the Iranian missile project and declare the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization.
“Alongside the military response to the firing of the missiles and the UAVs, I am leading a diplomatic offensive against Iran,” Katz posted on X.
He said additional sanctions would “stop and weaken Iran.”
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“We must stop Iran now, before it will be too late.”
Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday in response to a deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier this month that left 12 dead, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps. Israel did not claim responsibility for the strike.
An Israeli military spokesman said 99% of Iran’s drones and missiles were intercepted. There were no deaths reported after Israel’s air defense systems and the intervention of its allies, including the U.S., shot down Iranian drones and missiles.
The direct attack on Israel by Iran has increased concerns that Israel’s war on Hamas and violence in Gaza is spreading into a wider regional conflict.
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Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi said on Monday that “this launch of so many missiles, cruise missiles and drones into Israeli territory will be met with a response” but gave no details.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani told state TV on Monday night that Tehran would swiftly respond to Israeli retaliation, and that Iran “will not wait for another 12 days to respond,” according to Reuters.
President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend and reportedly told him that the U.S. will not participate in any Israeli counter-offensive against Iran, U.S. officials said on Sunday.
“We believe Israel has freedom of action to protect itself and defend itself, in Syria or elsewhere… That’s a long-standing policy and that remains, but no we would not envision ourselves participating in such a thing,” one senior U.S. administration official told Reuters.
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On the diplomatic front, the Group of Seven major democracies are already working on a package of coordinated measures against Iran, according to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday that the U.S. will continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself, but does not want war with Iran.
“And as the president has said many times, we don’t seek a wider war in the region. We don’t seek a war with Iran. And I think I will leave it at that,” Kirby said.
Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace and Reuters contributed to this report.