Israel pushing for more sanctions against Iran

JERUSALEM — Israel's foreign minister said on Tuesday (April 16) he was urging countries to place sanctions on Iran's missile programme and proscribe its Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation after Iran's first-ever direct attack on Israel.

"Alongside the military response to the firing of missiles and drones, I am leading a diplomatic attack against Iran," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a social media post.

Katz said he sent letters to 32 countries and spoke with numerous counterparts, calling on them to "place sanctions on Iran's missile project and declare the Revolutionary Guard a terror organisation, as a way to stop and weaken Iran."

"We must stop Iran now, before it will be too late."

Israel has said it would respond to Iran's weekend missile and drone attack, amid calls for restraint by allies anxious to avoid an escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

The Group of Seven major democracies were already working on a package of coordinated measures against Iran, according to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

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