Israel is determined to respond to Iran's massive attack, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said during a visit to Israel on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
World powers are scrambling to prevent a wider escalation of conflict in the Middle East after Iran's attacks on Saturday night, the first direct attack on Israel by Tehran after decades of confrontations through proxies and regional groups.
Iran launched the attacks in response to a suspected Israeli air strike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1 that killed two generals and several other Iranians. officers.
The Iranian missiles and drones launched on Saturday were mostly shot down by Israel and its allies, causing no deaths and only minor damage. But Israel says it must retaliate to maintain confidence in its deterrent. Iran says it considers the matter closed for now but will retaliate if Israel does.
"It is clear that the Israelis are making a decision to act," Cameron told reporters at the start of his visit to Jerusalem. "We hope they will do so in a way that will escalate the conflict as little as possible."
Washington and other Western governments hope that new economic sanctions on Iran will help persuade Israel to limit the scope of its retaliation. Cameron said Britain wants to see coordinated sanctions on Iran from the G7, which is meeting this week in Italy.
"They need to be given a clear and unambiguous message from the G7," he said.
Washington plans to impose new sanctions targeting Iran's missile and drone programs in the coming days and expects its allies to follow suit, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement on Tuesday.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking in Brussels after an emergency video conference of EU foreign ministers, said some member states had asked for expanded sanctions on Iran.