Israel urges sanctions in 'diplomatic offensive' against Iran

TEL AVIV

Israel launched a "diplomatic offensive" against Iran on Tuesday, calling on 32 countries to impose sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards and their missile programme.

Late on Saturday, Iran carried out an unprecedented direct attack on Israel, using more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, in retaliation for a deadly April 1 air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

The Israeli military said it intercepted 99 percent of the aerial threats with the help of the United States and other allies, and that the attack caused only minor damage, including to a military base in the country's south.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he had launched a diplomatic offensive to counter Iran.

"Alongside the military response to the firing of the missiles and the UAVs, I am leading a diplomatic offensive against Iran," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X.

"This morning, I sent letters to 32 countries and spoke with dozens of foreign ministers and leading figures around the world, calling for sanctions to be imposed on the Iranian missile project and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps be declared a terrorist organisation".

Katz didn't specify which governments he had asked to impose sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards, who are already blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the United States and are subject to EU sanctions.

Israeli officials have vowed to retaliate against Iran, which said its weekend attack was in response to the strike on the Iranian consulate that killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.

"Iran must be stopped now - before it is too late," Katz said on Tuesday.