German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock phoned her Iranian counterpart Hussein Amirabdollahian on Thursday to urge de-escalation amid rising concerns of a direct Iranian attack on Israel.
"No one should be allowed to throw more fuel onto the fire. No one can have any interest in a conflagration with completely unforeseeable consequences," Baerbock said during a meeting with Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren in Berlin.
"All the actors in the region are urged to act responsibly and to exercise restraint," Baerbock said, adding that this was the message she had conveyed to Amirabdollahian.
Asked whether the call had been coordinated with Israel or the United States, she responded: "All diplomatic phone lines are running hot at this time to prevent a regional escalation in the Middle East."
Baerbock did not provide any other details on her contact with the Iranian foreign minister.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly threatened Israel with revenge following an airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus at the beginning of the month.
The attack has been attributed to Israel, which has not denied responsibility.
Referring to the attack, Amirabdollahian said in a statement issued by his ministry: "If the Israeli regime completely disregards the immunity of individuals and diplomatic facilities in violation of international law and the Vienna conventions, legitimate defence is a necessity."
The foreign ministers of Saudi-Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iraq all contacted Amirabdollahian by phone on Wednesday to discuss the rising crisis.
