Israel-Iran conflict: In a divided world, which country supports whom

West Asia moved closer to a long-feared regional war the day after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel and Israel said it began limited ground incursions into Lebanon targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

While Israel said it intercepted many of the missiles , Iran stated most of its missiles hit their targets. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed late Tuesday to retaliate against Iran, which he said “made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it.”

An Iranian commander threatened wider strikes on infrastructure if Israel retaliated against Iran’s territory.

As the Israel-Iran conflict escalates, here’s a look at where other countries stand.

Israel allies

The US

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said his administration is “fully supportive” of Israel after it thwarted an Iranian missile attack and that he’s in “active discussion” with aides about an appropriate response. He also praised the US and Israeli militaries for defeating the Iranian missile barrage.

“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully supportive of Israel,” the US president said at the start of a meeting with White House officials focused on the administration’s response to Hurricane Helen.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the Iranian missile attack “totally unacceptable, and the entire world should condemn it.”

The US has been quick to praise and defend Israel for a series of recent strikes that killed Hezbollah leaders. In contrast to its repeated criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza which has killed civilians, America has taken a different tack on strikes that targeted Nasrallah and others but also may have killed innocent people.

The UK

UK PM Keir Starmer has said that his country also supports Israel’s right to self-defence, saying that “Iran has menaced West Asia for far too long.”

In a televised statement after the missile attack, Starmer said Iran’s missile attack had left the region “on the brink” and he was “deeply concerned about the risk of miscalculation.”

The British PM added that he spoke to Israeli PM Netanyahu, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday as part of efforts to prevent a wider conflict.

Notably, the UK Defence Chief John Healey also said that Britain’s military helped Israel repel a missile attack from Iran. Taking to X, Healey said British forces “played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation in West Asia.”

France

France is sending additional military resources to West Asia to tackle the Iranian threat and also convened a United Nations Security Council meeting for later in the day after Tehran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel.

The French presidency said, “Committed to Israel’s security, France today mobilised its military resources in the West Asia to counter the Iranian threat,” after an emergency security cabinet meeting.

“The head of state also reiterated France’s demand that Hezbollah cease its terrorist actions against Israel and its population.”

The French presidency said it would also organise a conference in support of Lebanon soon and had asked the foreign minister to travel to the region to work on diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions.

Japan

Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Wednesday that missile attacks by Iran on Israel were “unacceptable,”  warning against an escalation into “full-on war.”

“Iran’s attack is unacceptable. We condemn this strongly. But at the same time, we would like to cooperate (with the United States) to defuse the situation and prevent it from escalating into a full-on war,” Ishiba told reporters.

Ishiba made the comments after a phone call with US President Biden following his appointment as Japanese prime minister on Tuesday.

Germany

Germany demanded that Iran end its missile attack on Israel, expressing fears over the escalation of the conflict in the region.

The country’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted on X, “I condemn the ongoing attack in the strongest possible terms. Iran must stop the attack immediately as it is leading the region further towards the abyss.”

Australia

Australian PM Anthony Albanese condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel and called for de-escalation.

“We’re very concerned about Iran’s actions, which is why we condemn them,” he told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday.

“It is a good thing that it would appear that the defence of Israel, supported by the US, has ensured that there is no loss of civilian life, it would appear, at this stage. There’s been too much loss of life in that region,” Albanese added.

He said Israel had a right to defend itself.

“What we have called for consistently is for a de-escalation in the region, along with our friends in the US and others,” Albanese said.

Irani allies

Turkey

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned Israel’s ground operation in Lebanon and urged the United Nations and other international organisations to stop Israel without “wasting any more time.”

“Whatever it does, Israel will be stopped sooner or later,” Erdogan told the Turkish parliament at the opening of the legislative year.

“All state and international organisations, especially the UN, must stop Israel without wasting any more time,” he said.

“I openly say that the Israeli leadership, acting with the delirium of the promised land and with a purely religious fanaticism, will set its sights on our homeland after Palestine and Lebanon,” Erdogan said, again comparing Netanyahu to Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler.

“Just as Hitler, who saw himself in a giant mirror, was stopped, Netanyahu will be stopped in the same way,” he said.

Russia

Russia and Iran have had decades of ties, thanks to their shared anti-Western views.

Moscow’s connections to Iran have also given it the ability to support proxies that attack Israel, strengthening its destabilising influence in the region.

In an attempt to avoid western sanctions, the two nations signed an economic agreement in December that was intended “to counteract, mitigate, and compensate for the negative consequences of unilateral coercive measures” following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has looked to Iran for military support since then.

It is also to be noted here that Iran’s latest missile attack came after Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin visited Tehran earlier this week.

Reacting to the attack, Russia said that the US’s approach in West Asia was a “complete failure.”

“Complete failure of the Biden administration in the Middle East,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a post on Telegram, adding, “A bloody drama that is only gaining momentum. The White House’s incomprehensible statements demonstrate its complete helplessness in resolving crises.”

Lebanon

Israeli ground forces crossed into southern Lebanon early Tuesday, marking a significant escalation of an offensive against Hezbollah militants and opening a new front in a yearlong war against its Iranian-backed adversaries.

The incursion follows weeks of heavy blows by Israel against Hezbollah – including an airstrike that killed its long-time leader, Hassan Nasrallah — and seeks to step up the pressure on the group, which began firing rockets into northern Israel after the start of the war in Gaza. The last time Israel and Hezbollah engaged in ground combat was a monthlong war in 2006.

However, the soaring ties between Lebanon and Israel go beyond Hezbollah.

Ever since the establishment of the state of Israel, Lebanon’s founding fathers — primarily Riad al-Solh and Bechara el-Khoury – felt they could not have a relationship with Israel and maintain good ties with neighbouring Arab states, according to Al Jazeera.

The two nations have been engaging in conflicts and raids ever since Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948. This includes Lebanon’s minimal role in the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982 (which sparked the creation of Hezbollah), the Seven-Day War in 1993, and the deadly Israel-Lebanon conflict in 2006 (which wasn’t as much a war between Lebanon and Israel as much as it was between Hezbollah and the latter, according to history lecturer Makram Rabah).

China

In discussions with senior Iranian officials last month, two of China’s top diplomats expressed support for Tehran in light of the growing likelihood of an all-out conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the fringes of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Tehran received Beijing’s support in defending its “sovereignty, security, territorial integrity, and national dignity.”

“Regardless of changes in the international and regional situation, China has always been a trustworthy partner of Iran and will, as always, support Iran… and oppose interference by external forces in Iran’s internal affairs and the imposition of sanctions and pressure,” the Chinese foreign ministry quoted Wang as saying.

He also said China would “uphold justice and promote a ceasefire to end the Gaza war."

According to the IRNA report, Wang said the “actions of the Israeli regime in Gaza are unjust and have led to the killing and displacement of the Palestinian people, and unfortunately, such actions are spilling over to the region."

Yemen

In the days since Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, including the strike that killed the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been quick to show they are an important player in the complex conflicts convulsing the Middle East.

In a brazen attack on Saturday, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Israel’s main airport as PM Netanyahu was arriving back from New York, where he had addressed the United Nations.

On Monday, they threatened “escalating military operations” to target Israel after apparently shooting down a US military drone flying over Yemen.

And on Tuesday, an explosive-loaded drone crashed into one ship in the Red Sea as a missile exploded against another, the British military and private security officials said, the latest in the Houthis’ assaults on commercial shipping in the key waterway.

With inputs from agencies