Reactions to Iran's attack

Western countries call for calm - claim Israeli victory

Western countries should realize that Iran has shown restraint in its response to the embassy attack in Syria. That's what Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement quoted by AFP.

"Instead of making accusations against Iran, Western countries should look in the mirror for how they acted against Israel's war crimes," writes Kanani.

At the same time, several countries in the West call on Israel not to escalate the conflict. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron says Israel has already won on Saturday's attack.

- In many ways, this was a double defeat for Iran. The attack was an almost total failure, revealing to the world that Iran is a destructive force in the region.

Cameron's German colleague Annalena Baerbock has similar thoughts.

- Israel has won a victory thanks to its strong air defense, she says, adding that the way forward is through diplomacy.
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Data: US surprised by breadth of Iran's response

The US was well prepared for Iran to attack Israel, but the scale of the attack surprised the White House. This is according to sources for the Times of Israel, who wrote a long article about the game behind the scenes.

For a number of hours, the US was not sure that all the projectiles could be stopped.

- It was a moment of strong emotions, says a high-ranking official in the White House.

In the end, it was clear that the attack was repulsed by Israeli air defenses, assisted by the United States, Great Britain, France and Jordan. According to reports, the US received a message from Iran after a few hours, via a channel in Switzerland, that the Iranian attack was over.

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Expert: An escalation could lower the world economy

An escalation in the conflict between Israel and Iran risks lowering the world economy via higher oil prices. That's what Middle East expert Trita Parsi says to Dagens Industri.

- High oil prices would benefit Russia and push up inflation in almost all countries, he says.

Such a development would also change the balance of power in Europe, as the weaker economy would reduce the will to help Ukraine, says Parsi, who heads a think tank in Washington DC.

The most important thing now is to avoid an escalation, he says.