Echoes of calm reverberate amid fears of a broader war

World leaders on Friday urged Israel and Iran to de-escalate tensions after Israel struck an Iranian military base.
PM Rishi Sunak of Britain, whose military participated in defending Israel against Iran's attack, said: "Significant escalation is not in anyone's interests - what we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region."
Ursula von der Leyen, prez of the European Commission, said: "It is absolutely essential that the region remains stable and that all sides refrain from further action."
Italy's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said G7 nations had changed the agenda of its meeting Friday in Capri to "address the Iran issue and put priority attention on the Middle East." He added, "The political goal of the G7 is de-escalation." The G7 also warned of new sanctions against Iran for its attack on Israel.
UN secretary-general Antonio Gueterres called for an end to the strikes. Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said, "There have been telephone contacts between the leadership of Russia and Iran, our representatives and the Israelis. We made it clear, we told the Israelis that Iran does not want escalation."
Jordan, which has been criticised for playing a role in intercepting Iran's attack, issued a pointed plea: "Israeli-Iranian retaliations must end." A senior Hamas official said, "We call for the scale of engagement against (Israeli) occupation to be expanded in response to the war of genocide in Gaza and the escalation in the region." agencies