Israeli strikes on Iran ‘fully coordinated’ with US, says Tehran
Why this matters: local context for readers following news across Pakistan and the region.
Iran said on Monday that a recent wave of Israeli strikes against the country was “fully coordinated” with the United States’ forces. Tehran’s statement comes after Israel and Iran exchanged attacks for the first time since the shaky ceasefire in the Middle East war took effect on April 8, despite US President Donald Trump calling for restraint. The flare-up, which also drew in other countries in the region, saw Israel striking Iran after the latter targeted it in vengeance for an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs. No casualties have been reported so far in either Israel or Iran. “The direct responsibility of the United States for the actions of the Zionist regime is clear, and the consequences of escalating tensions will also fall on the United States,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei told a new briefing, according to state news agency IRNA. “No one believes that the Zionist regime would carry out any action without prior coordination and cooperation with the United States,” Baqaei said. “It is perfectly natural that the diplomatic process initiated to put an end to this imposed war would be affected,” the official observed. Nonetheless, Baqaei said that Pakistan’s mediation efforts to end the war with the US were continuing even after fighting resumed with Israel. “Diplomatic consultations are naturally continuing in all circumstances,” the spokesman said. Baqaei further stressed that it had “been frequently repeated by us together with the Pakistani mediator that Lebanon is part and parcel of the [ceasefire] agreement”, according to Al Jazeera. “We cannot allow the Zionist entity or the United States to undermine this part of the part of the deal,” he was quoted as saying. “These events [of the past day] will definitely intensify suspicions. We were already exchanging messages with the American side in an atmosphere of extreme suspicion,” the Iranian official noted. “The US’s contradictions to date – whether intentional or unintentional – have c