BERLIN, October 2. /TASS/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has condemned Iran's missile strike on Israel, noting that it only serves to escalate an already tense situation in the region.
"Iran thereby risks setting the entire region on fire, which must be prevented by all means," Scholz said in Berlin. "Iranian missile strikes against Israel should be condemned in the strongest terms possible," the chancellor added. Scholz demanded that Iran and the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement "immediately stop attacking Israel." "It was only thanks to the air defense forces of Israel and its allies that the Iranian attack was largely repelled yesterday," he claimed.
According to the chancellor, Germany, together with its partners, will continue its efforts to achieve a truce between Israel and Hezbollah. "Such a truce must be accompanied by the full implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which clearly stipulates that Hezbollah’s must withdraw from the territory near the Israeli-Lebanese border," Scholz said.
"Today, just a few days prior to the anniversary of Hamas' horrific attack on Israel, we all have the hostages and their loved ones on our minds," the chancellor continued. "Their fate should prompt everyone to reach an agreement based on the proposals that US President [Joe] Biden has put forward," the German chancellor said.
On the evening of October 1, Iran launched a massive ballistic and hypersonic missile attack against Israel in retaliation for the deaths of top leaders of the Hamas, Hezbollah, and IRGC groups. Tehran said that 90% of the missiles successfully hit their designated targets. Israel, in turn, said that Iran had fired some 180 missiles into the country, most of which were intercepted. The Israeli Chief of the General Staff vowed to "choose the right time" to surprise Iran with an attack, while Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned in Hebrew that attacks on Israel will be ramped up.