Nigeria calls for restraint after Iran attacked Israel

The Federal Government of Nigeria has called on Iran and Israel to exercise restraint following an attack on the later Saturday night.

In a statement in Abuja on Sunday, Francisca Omayuli, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria called on all parties to allow ongoing diplomatic efforts to ease tension in the Middle East.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria joins other members of the international community to call on Iran and Israel to exercise restraint, as diplomatic efforts are ongoing to ease tension and avoid a wider conflict in the Middle East.

“In this critical period, it behoves the two countries to reflect on the universal commitment to peaceful resolution of conflicts, for the advancement of global peace and security,” said the statement.

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Late Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps announced it had launched “dozens of drones and missiles” towards military sites on Israeli territory.

“Iran’s military action was in response to the Zionist regime’s aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus” earlier this month,” the Iranian mission to the UN said.

The attack, according to the mission, was “conducted on the strength of Article 51 of the UN Charter pertaining to legitimate defence”.

Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel in its unprecedented attack overnight, injuring at least 12 people, an Israeli army spokesman said Sunday.

“Last night Iran fired over 300 ballistic missiles, UAVs and cruise missiles towards Israel,” military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a televised statement, revising an earlier figure of more than 200 launches.

Hagari said 170 drones and 30 cruise missiles were launched, none of which entered Israeli territory, adding that 110 ballistic missiles were also fired and few of them reached Israel.

In a separate statement, the Israeli military said that “dozens of surface-to-surface missile launches” were identified, with the majority intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory.

One of those injured was a seven-year-old girl from a Bedouin community near the southern town of Arad, who was in intensive care, according to the medical centre that received her.