Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 20 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian official disclosed to the media on the 19th that Iran's air defense system intercepted several drones on the same day, and the "foreign source" of the drone attack has not been confirmed, and Iran has no plans to retaliate against Israel.
However, U.S. and Israeli officials disclosed that Israel retaliated with "limited" airstrikes against Iran that day. Political analysts believe that Israel's strike can be described as "point to point," and Israel and Iran are like dancing a "pas de deux," and the two sides do not want the conflict to escalate further.
This is a footage of the city of Isfahan broadcast live on Iranian state television on April 19. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sha Dati
Yi Yi tacitly?
Iran's Mehr News Agency reported on the 19th that three micro-drones were spotted in the early morning of the same day over Isfahan Province in central Iran, and then Iranian air defense systems shot them down.
Iranian media, citing Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, reported that the three downed micro-drones did not cause any casualties and property damage.
Three Iranian officials told the New York Times that the three small drones that carried out the attack could have been launched from Iranian territory, and that Iranian radar systems did not detect the entry of unidentified aircraft into Iranian airspace.
A few hours after the attack, a senior Iranian official told a Reuters reporter on the 19th that Iran had no plans to retaliate against Israel. The "foreign source" of the attack has not yet been confirmed, and "the discussion is more inclined to (internal) infiltration".
On 15 April, IDF Chief of Staff Al-Halevi spoke at the Nevatim Air Base in southern Israel. Halevi said on the 15th that Iran's missile and drone attacks on Israel were "unprecedented" and would be "responded". Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the Israel Defense Forces)
The Israeli and U.S. governments have not commented on the attack. CNN, citing a senior U.S. official, reported that the Israeli side told the U.S. side that the airstrikes were aimed at retaliating for Iran's airstrikes against Israel last weekend, but were intended to hit Iranian military targets "limitedly" and not against Iranian nuclear facilities and civilian targets.
The Washington Post, citing an unnamed Israeli official, reported that Israel launched the attack in retaliation for Iran's attack last weekend and to show that Israel is capable of striking into Iran's heartland despite not bordering Iran.
Several media outlets noted that after the airstrikes on Iran, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's Minister of National Security and representative of Israel's far-right hardliners, posted a one-word post on social media: "Weak." According to the analysis of the Associated Press, this remark is quite a bit of a "self-confession".
Itamar Rabinovic, Israel's former ambassador to the United States, noted that Israel's attack was "to the point": in response to Iran's previous retaliatory strikes, but not to fall into a cycle of retaliation that "escalates." It is like dancing a "pas de deux", and both sides will inform each other of their "next moves and intentions".
On April 5, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres held a press conference. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the United Nations/Photo by Esserkinder Debebe)
The international community calls for restraint
After the air strikes on Iran on the 19th, many international organizations and countries called on all parties to the conflict to exercise restraint.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement on the 19th, calling for an immediate end to the dangerous cycle of mutual revenge in the Middle East. The statement said that the international community should work together to prevent the development of a situation that could have devastating consequences for the entire Middle East region and beyond.
In a statement, Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stressed the need to ease tensions in the Middle East and reiterated that Jordan will not become an "arena" for the conflict between Iran and Israel.
This is the urban area of Tel Aviv, Israel, taken on the evening of April 13 after the security warning went into effect. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Junqing
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with Russian media, "cooled down" the situation, saying that the Russian side had informed Israel that Iran does not seek to escalate the conflict.
A number of political analysts pointed out that if Iran continues to "downgrade" the air strikes on the 19th and Israel does not take further action, Israel and Iran can avoid falling into an "escalating pattern of-for-tat violence."
Abdul Rahman al-Rashid, a political analyst in Saudi Arabia, told Reuters that the Gulf region was "relieved" at the moment, and that it looked like the attacks on the 19th were "limited, not excessive, and caused limited damage", and "I think that means de-escalation".
This is a Wall Street street sign taken outside the New York Stock Exchange in the United States on January 18, 2022. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Guo Ke)
The financial sector has been shaken
The Israeli-Iraqi conflict has had an impact on Israel's economy. Due to the risk of escalation of the military conflict between Israel and Iran, the international credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings downgraded Israel's foreign currency and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the 19th.
Standard & Poor's is not the first international rating agency to downgrade Israel's sovereign credit rating. Moody's Investors Service downgraded Israel's sovereign credit rating to A2 from A1 in February, with a negative outlook.
Moody's believes that Israel is now facing heavier debt pressure than before the outbreak of the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and its public financial situation is deteriorating. In the medium to long term, the geopolitical risks, especially security risks, facing Israel will remain high.
This is a refueling gun at a self-service gas station photographed in Brussels, Belgium, April 9, 2020. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Cheng
The international financial market has also been shaken by the Israeli-Iraq conflict. International crude oil futures and spot gold prices rose on the 19th, of which spot gold prices hit a new high.
Clay Siegel, director of the international crude oil service department of the American energy consulting company Lapidan Energy Consulting, said that as the conflict in the Middle East expands, the oil market faces a "big risk" of oil export disruption from the Gulf countries. A blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would have a "very severe" impact on the world economy, potentially pushing oil prices up sharply to "demand-destroying levels". (Wang Yijun)