Israel Military Chief Warns Iran will Face Consequences for Attack

Israel’s military chief said “Iran will face the consequences for its actions,” without providing further details, as Israel weighs its response to Iran’s unprecedented attack. The Biden administration said the United States would not participate in any Israeli reprisal, while world leaders urged Israel to exercise restraint to avoid a wider war. Iranian officials vowed to retaliate to any further escalation.

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog called for “extreme restraint” as Israel weighs a response to the Iranian attack at the weekend, and said Iran temporarily closed its nuclear facilities over the weekend for security reasons.

Asked whether the International Atomic Energy Agency was concerned Iran’s nuclear facilities could be targeted, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Monday: “Of course, we are always concerned about this possibility.”

Inspectors from the IAEA in Iran “were informed by the Iranian government” on Sunday that “all the nuclear facilities that we are inspecting every day would remain closed on security considerations,” Grossi said.

While the nuclear facilities were due to reopen Monday for “continued inspections,” Grossi said that he instructed IAEA inspectors not to return “until we see that the situation is completely calm” and that they planned to resume on Tuesday. “This has not had an impact on our inspection activity,” he said.

Aid shipments entering the Gaza Strip have increased “quite dramatically,” with more than 2,000 trucks able to get into the enclave in the past few days, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday during an appearance on MSNBC. “The aid is getting in. That’s important but it has to be sustained,” Kirby said when asked whether the Biden administration was satisfied with Israel’s recent efforts to facilitate access to aid in the Strip.