Lebanon’s Aoun says attacks target stability in Middle East

Lebanon’s Aoun says attacks target stability in Middle East

The Lebanese president says Israel’s attack on Iran “did not only target the Iranian people, but also all international efforts exerted to maintain stability in the Middle East and neighbouring countries and avoid escalation therein.”

“Aoun deemed that such attacks aim to undermine all current initiatives and mediations to prevent the deterioration of the situation, which had made significant progress towards reaching realistic and just solutions to avert the danger of war from the region’s countries and their peoples,” said a statement shared on X by the Lebanese presidency.

He called for “the international community to take effective and swift action to prevent Israel from achieving its goals.”

Protesters in Iran’s Qom call for retaliation after Israeli strikes

Hundreds of protesters have gathered at the Jamkaran Mosque in the city of Qom to demand a “severe punishment” against Israel following its deadly strikes across Iran.

The protesters waved Iranian flags and shouted anti-Israeli slogans as they gathered in one of the country’s holiest cities 140 km (87 miles) south of the Iranian capital, according to a video posted on X by the Iranian news agency Tasnim.

Several fatalities, including top military commanders and nuclear scientists, as well as women and children, have been reported following the Israeli attack early on Friday.

In a rare statement published in the Jamaran news website, Iran’s reformist former president Mohammad Khatami urged the international community to denounce Israel’s latest deadly and “criminal act” against Iran.

Khatami wrote that the UN should be at the “forefront” in the effort “to prevent further tragedies by seriously and comprehensively” condemn Israel, and put more pressure to stop its aggression.

He noted that the latest Israeli attack came amid Iran’s efforts to enter into negotiations with the US “for a rational and peaceful” resolution to the nuclear impasse.

Under Khatami, who served as president from 1997 to 2005, Iran made efforts at domestic reforms, while advocating for more open diplomatic relations with Asia and Europe that later paved the way for negotiations with the West.