CAIRO: Egypt stressed the importance of supporting Lebanon and “sparing it the scourge of war,” the country’s foreign ministry said on Sunday amid escalating tensions between Israel and the Iran-aligned Lebanese Hezbollah group.
Cairo, a mediator in the ongoing Gaza war, also warned of the dangers of opening new war front with Lebanon.
Thousands of mourners attended funeral ceremonies on Sunday for the 12 children and teenagers killed by a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as Israel vowed swift retaliation against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the attack on Majdal Shams, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza, which has since spread to several fronts and now risks spilling into a wider regional conflict.
Israeli jets hit targets in southern Lebanon overnight but a stronger response was expected following a meeting of the security cabinet at 6 p.m. (1500 GMT). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from a visit to the United States and met security officials ahead of the meeting.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was every indication that the rocket that hit a sports field where children were playing football had been fired by Hezbollah and said Washington stood by Israel’s right to defend itself.
But he said the US did not want a further escalation of the conflict, which has seen daily air strikes and exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.
Egypt stresses importance of supporting Lebanon amid escalating tensions with Israel
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Egypt stresses importance of supporting Lebanon amid escalating tensions with Israel
- Cairo, a mediator in the ongoing Gaza war, also warned of the dangers of opening new war front with Lebanon
Iran, UK foreign ministers in rare direct contact
- A UK government source said Cooper “emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear program and raised a number of other issues”
TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken by phone with his British counterpart Yvette Cooper, an Iranian foreign ministry statement said on Saturday, in a rare case of direct contact between the two countries.
The ministry said that in Friday’s call the ministers “stressed the need to continue consultations at various levels to strengthen mutual understanding and pursue issues of mutual interest.”
A UK government source said Cooper “emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear program and raised a number of other issues.”
The source in London said Cooper raised the case of Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple detained in Iran for nearly a year on suspicion of espionage.
The Iranian ministry statement did not mention the case of the two Britons.
It said Araghchi criticized “the irresponsible approach of the three European countries toward the Iranian nuclear issue,” referring to Britain, France and Germany.
The three countries at the end of September initiated the
reinstatement of UN sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program.
The Foremans, both in their early fifties, were seized in January as they passed through Kerman, in central Iran, while on a round-the-world motorbike trip.
Iran accuses the couple of entering the country pretending to be tourists so as to gather information for foreign intelligence services, an allegation the couple’s family rejects.
Before Friday’s call, the last exchange between the two ministers was in October.
