Iran’s president warns of a severe and painful response if its "interests" are targeted

President Ebrahim Raisi has warned that the “smallest action against Iran’s interests” will be met with a “severe, extensive and painful” response.

In a call with Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, the president said that Iran's attack on Israel this weekend was an act of “legitimate defense.”

“As we have already officially announced the operation of the 'Honest Promise' was successfully carried out with the aim of punishing the aggressor. Now we firmly declare that the smallest action against Iran's interests will definitely be met with a severe, extensive and painful response against all its perpetrators,” Raisi said.

"Honest Promise" was the name given to Iran’s unprecedented attack, which saw drones and missiles launched at Israel over a five-hour period — almost entirely intercepted by the Israeli military and its allies. Israel has vowed to respond and is weighing its options to do so.

In the call, Qatar “stressed the need to reduce all forms of escalation and avoid expanding the conflict in the region,” according to a statement run by state news agency Sheikh Tamim.

Artist Ruth Patir, Israel’s representative at the Venice Biennale in Italy, has said she won’t open her exhibit until a hostage and ceasefire deal has been reached.

She said the Israeli pavilion at the international cultural exhibition “will only open when the release of hostages and ceasefire agreement happens” in a statement shared on Instagram on Tuesday.

Patir said she would raise her voice “with those I stand with in their scream, ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity. We can’t take it anymore.”

A petition signed by more than 23,000 people recently called for Israel to be excluded from the Venice Biennale.

Patir on Tuesday said that she and commissioners Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit had made headlines in recent weeks rather than the art and the exhibition titled "(M)otherland."

“If I am given such a remarkable stage, I want to make it count,” Patir said, adding that she “firmly objected” to cultural boycotts but chose to take action as she felt there was “no right answer.”

Protests against Israel's war in Gaza have taken place at various cultural events, including this year's Oscars and the Grammy's.