Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: US Urges China To Stop Iran From Shutting Strait of Hormuz As Oil Prices Surge
Russia’s foreign ministry “strongly condemned” the US attack on Iran. It called Washington’s move “irresponsible” and a “gross violation of international laws”.
“It is already clear that a dangerous escalation has begun, fraught with further undermining of regional and global security,” the Russian foreign ministry added.
Read More: How badly have US strikes damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities? Here’s what to know
How China reacted to US attack on Iran
China strongly condemned the US attack on Iran and on “nuclear facilities supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency”.
The country’s foreign ministry said in a statement on its website that the move seriously violates the United Nations Charter and worsens tensions in the Middle East.
Beijing urged parties to the conflict, especially Israel, to cease attacks as soon as possible and begin dialogue and negotiations.
Iran vows reprisals
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that he’ll travel to Moscow later in the day to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We enjoy a strategic partnership and we always consult with each other and coordinate our positions,” he said.
He also said the US crossed a major red line by attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“They crossed a very big red line by attacking (Iran’s) nuclear facilities,” he said.
Donald Trump today said US warplanes struck three Iranian nuclear sites, nine days after Israel bombed Iran in a surprise move.
“Through this action, the United States has dealt a serious blow to international peace and security,” he said, vowing that Iran would defend itself “by all means necessary against… US military aggression”.
After the strikes, Trump said Iran “must now agree to end this war”.
But Araghchi said any demand to return to negotiations was “irrelevant”.
“The world must not forget that it was the United States which — in the midst of a process to forge a diplomatic outcome — betrayed diplomacy by supporting the genocidal Israeli regime’s launch of an illegal war of aggression on the Iranian nation,” he said.
“So we were in diplomacy, but we were attacked… They have proved that they are not men of diplomacy, and they only understand the language of threat and force” he added.
With inputs from Reuters, AFP, AP
