Forty-eight countries condemn Tehran for attack on Israel

(JNS) — Forty-eight countries condemned Iran and its proxies for the Apr. 14 missile and drone attack on Israel in a joint statement issued on Wednesday evening.

“We unequivocally condemn” the attacks, read the statement, specifically naming Iran and its “militant partners” and noting that “this large-scale attack could have caused significant damage and loss of life.”

While garnering broad support, the statement was only signed by Western nations. The effort was led by the United States and included five other members of the U.N. Security Council—France, Japan, Malta, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

The international diplomatic response comes as Iran’s attack was repelled by a coalition composed of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The defensive cooperation between Israel and its Arab partners was unprecedented.

The statement condemned “the fact that the weapons launched at Israel violated the airspace of several regional states, putting at risk the lives of innocent people in those countries, and appeared to traverse airspace near holy sites in Jerusalem.”

It described the “escalatory attack” as part of a “pattern of dangerous and destabilizing actions” by Iran and its proxies, which include Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iraq-based militias, “that pose a grave threat to international peace and security.”

The statement also condemned the April 13 seizure of a Portuguese-flagged container ship traversing in the Strait of Hormuz, linked to Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer, and welcomed efforts at regional de-escalation.

“We will strengthen our diplomatic cooperation to work towards resolving all tensions in the region,” said the statement, which made no mention of an April 1 strike on a purported Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus, in which seven members, including a high-ranking general, of the terror-designated Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed.

Israel is widely thought to have carried out the strike, though Jerusalem has not claimed responsibility. The lack of condemnation of the Damascus strike in Tuesday’s statement likely pushed away some potential signatories.

The statement was signed by the ambassadors to the United Nations from Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.