The explosion at Miyazaki Airport caused a crater seven metres wide and one metre deep in the middle of the taxiway next to the runway
world6 hours ago
World leaders have urged Iran and Israel to step back from the brink after Tehran fired a barrage of rockets at its arch rival.
Tehran said the attack — which took place as Israel said it was mounting a ground invasion against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon — was in response to the killings of Iran-backed militant leaders.
It was the second time Iran has directly attacked Israel, after a missile and drone attack in April in retaliation for a deadly Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
After the wave of missiles, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the "broadening conflict in the Middle East".
As Israel's conflict with Hezbollah broadening alongside its ongoing war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza, Guterres slammed "escalation after escalation" in the region.
"This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire."
As the attack unfolded, President Joe Biden ordered the US military to "aid Israel's defence against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles that are targeting Israel", a White House statement said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the attack was "totally unacceptable" and should be condemned by the entire world".
"Initial reports suggest that Israel, with the active support of the United States and other partners, effectively defeated this attack," Blinken told reporters.
Israel vowed to retaliate in the wake of Iran's attack. "This attack will have consequences. We have plans, and we will operate at the place and time we decide," said Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
The Palestinian Islamist group, whose October 7 attack sparked the war in Gaza, praised Iran's attack on Israel.
Hamas said the attack was revenge for the killing of "martyrs", including the death of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a strike in Beirut on Friday, as well as the death of Hamas's leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July.
"The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) blesses the heroic rocket launches carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran against wide areas of our occupied lands," a statement said, adding it was "in revenge for the blood of our heroic martyrs".
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for an end to the "spiral of violence" blighting the Middle East, while the foreign minister demanded "restraint".
"The Spanish government condemns Iran's attack against Israel and asks that the spiral of violence ends," Sanchez said on social media platform X.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told the Cadena Ser radio station that Madrid was issuing "a new call to all the actors, obviously including Israel, to show restraint and not escalation".
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock demanded Iran end its missile attack on Israel, writing on X: "I condemn the ongoing attack in the strongest possible terms."
"Iran must stop the attack immediately" as it was "leading the region further towards the abyss", she added.
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Tuesday said that he was concerned about an "escalation".
"The situation is worsening in the Near and Middle East, with an escalation and an attack, and a direct conflict that seems to be underway between Iran and Israel," Barnier told parliament, branding the situation "extremely serious".
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Iran's attack "in the strongest terms", his office said.
During a call with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, Starmer also "expressed the UK's steadfast commitment to Israeli security and the protection of civilians", according to a readout of the call from Starmer's office.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly slammed the attack. "We've all seen the attacks by Iran against Israel, and we condemn them unequivocally," she told reporters in Ottawa, adding that they "will only serve to further destabilise the region, and must stop".
The Kremlin on Wednesday said the situation in the Middle East was developing in an alarming direction and called on all sides to exercise restraint.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia had contacts with all sides in the region and said Moscow condemned any action that caused the death of civilians.
"This situation is developing according to the most alarming scenario," Peskov said.
"We call for restraint by all sides against the backdrop of what is happening. And of course, we condemn any actions which lead to the deaths of civilians."
Asked what Moscow would do next and whether it would support Iran in the event of Tehran entering a full-scale conflict with Israel, Peskov said: "We have contacts with all sides in this conflict, we continue to have these contacts and call on all sides for restraint."
India said on Wednesday it was "deeply concerned" by the escalating conflict in West Asia and urged for restraint and protection of civilians.
"It is important that the conflict doesn't take a wider regional dimension and we urge that all issues be addressed through dialogue and diplomacy," India's foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
New Delhi also advised its nationals on Wednesday to avoid all non-essential travel to Iran.
Saudi Arabia expressed deep concern in a statement on Monday over security developments in Lebanon, warning of escalating violence and urging all parties to exercise restraint, state news agency SPA reported.
Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Wednesday that missile attacks by Iran on Israel were "unacceptable", warning against an escalation into "full-on war".
Ishiba made the comments after a phone call with US President Joe Biden, following his appointment as prime minister in parliament on Tuesday.
"Iran's attack is unacceptable. We condemn this strongly. But at the same time, we would like to cooperate (with the United States) to defuse the situation and prevent it from escalating into a full-on war," Ishiba told reporters.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said: "Peace and stability in the Middle East are extremely important for Japan and we strongly urge all parties concerned to calm the situation."
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