NNA - Japan's foreign minister urged her Iranian counterpart on Tuesday to "exercise restraint" following Tehran's missile and drone attack on Israel, according to a readout of their telephone talks issued by Tokyo.

Yoko Kamikawa told Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that "Japan is deeply concerned about the attacks by Iran against Israel, which further deteriorate the current situation in the Middle East, and strongly condemns such escalation," the statement said.

She added that "the current situation is not in the interest of the international community as a whole, including Japan, not to mention that of Iran and the Iranian people, and strongly urged Iran to exercise restraint, stating that further escalation of tensions must be prevented," it said.

Kamikawa also "pointed out the importance of freedom of navigation and safety and called for Iran to ensure the safety of navigation in the waters of the region," the statement added.

Iran launched the weekend attack, its first ever to directly target Israeli territory, in retaliation for a deadly air strike widely blamed on Israel that destroyed Tehran's consular building in Syria's capital early this month.

The strikes raised Middle East tensions to a dangerous new level six months into a deadly conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, prompting international cries of alarm.--AFP

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