Argentina's Foreign Ministry condemns 'unjustified' Iranian attack on Israel

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday condemned the Islamic Republic of Iran after it fired a barrage of missiles at Israel in what Buenos Aires described as an “unjustified and dangerous” attack.

President Javier Milei’s government “condemns Iran's missile attack against the civilian population of Israel. This development only escalates a conflict that threatens to project itself beyond the region and acquire a global dimension,” read a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

“Argentina reiterates its solidarity with the State of Israel and vindicates its right to legitimate self-defence,” it concluded.

Israel vowed it would make Iran "pay" for the attack, which it said saw 180 missiles fired at its territory, most of them intercepted, and pledged to immediately strike "the Middle East powerfully.”

Israeli authorities also reported a shooting attack in a southern suburb of Tel Aviv on Tuesday night with at least 10 people wounded.

Tehran, meanwhile, threatened to strike any forces that intervened on its soil on Israel's behalf.

The United States said Tuesday that it was discussing a joint response after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel, warning Tehran of "severe consequences."

US President Joe Biden said Washington is "fully supportive" of Israel after the missile attack, adding that he would discuss a response with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Asked by reporters what the response towards Iran would be, Biden replied: "That's in active discussion right now. That remains to be seen."

Sirens sounded across Israel after Iran unleashed the missiles – most of which were intercepted by Israeli air defences or by allied air forces.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted "three military bases" around Israeli commercial hub Tel Aviv.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted on social media platform X that Tehran's "action is concluded unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation". 

The Revolutionary Guards earlier said the attack was in response to Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week as well as the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran bombing widely blamed on Israel.

The Israeli military announced after about an hour that the attack was over.

Israeli medics reported two people lightly injured by shrapnel. In the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian was killed in Jericho "when pieces of a rocket fell from the sky and hit him," the city's governor Hussein Hamayel said.

It was Iran's second direct attack on Israel after a missile and drone attack in April in response to a deadly Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

– TIMES/NA/AFP