TEHRAN TIMES (IRAN): Iran executed its long-awaited retaliation against Israel on Saturday and the early hours of Sunday morning by directly targeting the occupied territories from its soil. What’s evident is that Iran’s recent attacks and the assaults carried out by Israel across the West Asian region have been different in nature. Every strike the regime has carried out in the past 7 months and before that, was to assassinate individuals inside residential buildings, packed streets or even diplomatic premises. Tehran could have easily destroyed big gatherings to give Israel a taste of its own medicine, or hit critical infrastructure to plunge it into social chaos. It, however, decided to play by the rules, and it still somehow got condemned by Israel’s Western patrons, while Israel continues to enjoy full impunity.
THE TIMES OF ISRAEL: War cabinet said to favor hitting back at Iran but divided over when and how. Israeli official quoted insisting “there will be a response” as top decision-making body ends talks on counterattack without reaching decision and US nudges Israel to think twice. After over three hours of deliberations on Sunday afternoon, Israel’s five-person war cabinet did not reach a decision as to how the country would respond to Iran’s massive missile and drone barrage on Saturday night.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA): Israel repelled Iran’s huge attack. But only with help from U.S. and Arab partners. Saturday’s Iranian strike on Israel was huge by any standard. Tehran launched more than 170 explosive-laden drones, around 120 ballistic missiles and about 30 cruise missiles, according to Israel. The damage could have been catastrophic. As it turned out, almost all were intercepted. That success was due to a combination of Israel’s sophisticated air-defense system and critical assistance provided by the U.S. and other Western and Arab partners. American, British and Jordanian warplanes played an especially important role in downing drones. Most of the Iranian drones and missiles were destroyed before they even reached Israeli airspace.
FINANCIAL TIMES (GB): “We’re crazier than you realise”: Iran delivers its message with attack on Israel. Tehran believes calibrated missile and drone barrage is enough to restore deterrent and bolster image
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA (RUSSIA): Иран ответил Израилю эффектно и неэффективно. Две страны балансируют на грани масштабного конфликта, который не нужен ни им, ни их союзникам. Удар, нанесенный Ираном по израильской территории в ночь на 14 апреля, стал кульминацией заочного противостояния двух стран, начавшегося с событий 7 октября 2023 года, когда ХАМАС, считающийся иранским прокси, атаковал Израиль. Теперь ход развития событий на Ближнем Востоке зависит от того, что будет дальше. Если новых ударов Ирана по Израилю и серьезных атак Израиля по Ирану не последует, то впору говорить о том, что инцидент исчерпан.
O GLOBO (BRASIL): Ataque do Irã foi calculado para evitar guerra mais ampla, mas bola agora está com Israel. As declarações do Irã reforçam o entendimento de autoridades e analistas de que a ofensiva aérea iraniana foi uma mostra de força calculada para evitar uma guerra mais ampla, já que o Irã só lançou projéteis contra alvos militares, em um aparente esforço para evitar vítimas civis em centros urbanos ou econômicos, e avisou os países vizinhos de que realizaria a ação 72 horas antes. A ofensiva também indica quão longe o Irã está disposto a ir para criar um novo paradigma em sua relação com Israel, já que o país não tem sistemas de defesa de mísseis fortes ou sofisticados que possam cobrir todo seu território em caso de retaliação militar. Nesse contexto, evitar um conflito maior vai depender da reação de Israel, que avalia como responderá ao ataque.
THE WASHINGTON POST (USA): Iran crosses old red lines and sets “new equation” with attack on Israel. With its first-ever direct military attack on Israel, Iran crossed old red lines and created a precedent in its decades-long shadow war with the Jewish state. But over the past few months, Israel has stepped up its strikes on Iranian interests across the region. The attack in Damascus was especially provocative because of its target — a diplomatic compound, traditionally exempted from hostilities — and because it killed two senior generals in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard. Analysts said the attack was probably designed to look spectacular — a viral video showed projectiles being intercepted by Israel’s air defense system over the al-Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem — while keeping death and destruction to a minimum.
LE MONDE (FRANCE): Israël ne sait toujours pas comment rétablir ses capacités de dissuasion, après six mois d’une guerre menée de manière chaotique à Gaza, au prix de 33 000 morts palestiniens, et d’une campagne de frappes au Liban et en Syrie d’une intensité inédite depuis une décennie. Ses alliés occidentaux dressaient ce constat alarmant à bas bruit, dès avant que l’Iran n’en fasse la démonstration, dans la nuit de samedi 13 à dimanche 14 avril, en lançant plus de 300 drones et missiles balistiques vers l’Etat juif. Cette attaque place le gouvernement de Benyamin Nétanyahou dans une impasse. Israël ne peut riposter contre le territoire iranien sans risquer une escalade, que son allié américain refuse à toute force, craignant une guerre régionale. S’il n’y répond pas, il laisse l’Iran établir une nouvelle norme: des frappes directes de missiles balistiques sont désormais possibles, en riposte à des attaques israéliennes contre ses intérêts. Des fuites attribuées à de hauts responsables des services de sécurité israéliens accumulées dimanche dans la presse, signalant leur effroi face à des débats décrits comme va-t-en-guerre au sein du gouvernement depuis des jours. Ces officiers exprimaient leur crainte d’une riposte hâtive et irréfléchie aux frappes iraniennes, sans en minimiser l’importance. Ils déploraient plus généralement l’absence de toute vision politique dans cette guerre aux multiples fronts, dont M. Nétanyahou refuse de définir les objectifs, au-delà d’une promesse de “victoire totale”.
ARAB NEWS (SAUDI ARABIA): Iran says it gave warning before attacking Israel. US says that’s not true. Turkish, Jordanian and Iraqi officials said on Sunday that Iran gave wide notice days before its drone and missile attack on Israel, but US officials said Tehran did not warn Washington and that it was aiming to cause significant damage. An Iranian source briefed on the matter said Iran had informed the US through diplomatic channels that included Qatar, Turkey and Switzerland about the scheduled day of the attack, saying it would be conducted in a manner to avoid provoking a response.
THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA): With Iran’s strikes, Arab countries fear an expanding conflict. Iran’s attack on Israeli territory made the Middle East’s new reality undeniable: Clashes are getting harder and harder to contain.
HAARETZ (ISRAEL): Netanyahu owes an apology not just to Biden, but to the Jordanians too. While Netanyahu shows nothing but ingratitude towards Biden, the Iranian attack produced the most significant show of support in the history of Israeli-U.S. relations. It also proves the importance of a regional alliance of moderates, including the Palestinians. There is no longer any point in trying to rationally explain either the base ingratitude of Benjamin Netanyahu's supporters towards U.S. President Joe Biden, or the prime minister and his allies’ relentless campaign to undermine bipartisan support for Israel.
POLITICO (USA): President Joe Biden deliberately kept a low public profile following Iran’s attacks against Israel over the weekend, hoping that his absence from the spotlight would help deescalate the situation. White House aides on Sunday discussed the idea of Biden delivering a national address after Israel, in conjunction with U.S. forces, shot down the vast majority of the 300 drone and missile launches from Iran forces seeking to avenge the killing of senior paramilitary leaders. But while scheduling was fluid, there were no immediate plans for Biden to address an American audience on the conflict in the Middle East, according to six officials, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal planning. Advisers assessed that a major presidential event, such as a televised address, would likely escalate the tensions and may provoke Tehran, two of the officials said.
THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE): China stops short of condemning Iran, as it continues its balancing diplomacy. China has said it is deeply concerned over Iran’s strike on Israel on April 13, but has stopped short of condemning the attack; instead, it described it as a “spillover of the conflict in Gaza”. The two countries have forged close economic and strategic ties in recent years, with China buying as much as 90% of US-sanctioned Iranian crude oil in 2023 at discounted prices, making it Iran’s biggest trading partner. Chinese supply chains and energy imports could be at stake if there was wider instability in the Middle East, putting further strain on the Chinese economy – a situation that Beijing would want to avoid. As a result, China is expected to stick to its risk-averse, balancing policy while dealing with Iran and Israel.
AL-AHRAM (EGYPT): Egypt’s FM holds talks with US, Iran and Israel counterparts to de-escalate Middle East tensions. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry conducted intensive diplomatic efforts through phone conversations with his counterparts from the United States, Iran, and Israel on Sunday, aiming to de-escalate increasing tensions in the Middle East.
GLOBAL TIMES (CHINA): On Sunday morning, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz began his highly anticipated China visit. From the preview of the itinerary, to the fierce competition among German companies for the “boarding pass” to join the delegation, to the speculation and debate on the topics and impacts of the trip, this visit has garnered high attention and interpretation from the public opinion of the two countries and the world, which is relatively rare. The reason for this is related to the pivotal position of China and Germany as the world's second- and third-largest economies in the current changing international situation, and also to the public's close attention to the impact this visit will have on China-Germany and even China-EU relations. To a certain extent, Scholz’s “high-profile” visit to China is just a return to the normalcy of bilateral relations. The extremely high attention and many interpretations of this visit are a reflection of the current confusion about China in Germany and Europe. Some German media described the visit as bearing certain resemblances to the “Merkel era.” This reflects, from another aspect, that the tradition of pragmatism, rationality, and win-win cooperation with China is still maintained in Germany.
KOMMERSANT (RUSSIA): Немецкий канцлер Олаф Шольц прибыл с трехдневным визитом в КНР. Это станет его самой продолжительной зарубежной поездкой с момента прихода к власти. В Китае, который является крупнейшим торговым партнером Берлина, господину Шольцу предстоит решить непростую задачу — пролоббировать интересы немецкого бизнеса, при этом не сильно выходя за рамки генеральной линии Евросоюза, нацеленной на снижение стратегической зависимости от второй экономики мира. Впрочем, соображения приоритетности немецких бизнес-интересов наверняка возьмут вверх над необходимостью демонстрировать общеевропейское единство.
DAILY SABAH (TURKEY): Erdoğan relaunches diplomatic blitz for global peace.
After a brief pause during local elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to tour the world and host leaders in his efforts for global peace and regional stability amid the Israel-Palestine conflict. A busy schedule awaits President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in April and the coming months. The Turkish leader, whose schedule was confined to visiting Turkish cities ahead of the March 31 elections, will host heads of state and travel to several countries, from Iraq to the United States, for his shuttle diplomacy on regional and international matters.
THE GUARDIAN (GB): Twelve US news organizations are urging Joe Biden and Donald Trump to agree to TV debates ahead of the November presidential vote, a typical feature of an election year and one that can sometimes play a crucial role. But the two major candidates have so far resisted debating rival candidates from their own parties, with Trump refusing to participate against the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and others, and Biden resisting calls to set foot on a TV stage with rival Democratic candidates, who have since abandoned their electoral efforts to challenge him in the party.
LES ECHOS (FRANCE) : La communauté internationale au chevet du Soudan miné par un an de guerre civile. La guerre civile déclenchée il y a un an dans ce pays désertique a plongé les 47 millions d'habitants dans la peur et la malnutrition. Paris copréside une conférence ce lundi, chargée de mobiliser l'aide humanitaire et appelant à un cessez-le-feu.