Iran has threatened "severe" consequences to any further military action by Israel in the wake of Saturday night's barrage of drones and missiles in retaliation to a suspected Israeli airstrike on an Iranian embassy building earlier this month.
At an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sunday, envoys from the two countries locked horns over the attacks - with Israel calling for sanctions and further retaliation, Iran claiming the matter had "concluded", and UN Secretary-General António Guterres counselling de-escalation.
In a statement posted online, Iran's mission to the UN said: "Iran’s military action was in response to the Zionist regime’s aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus.
"The matter can be deemed concluded. However, should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe.
"It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the US MUST STAY AWAY!"
At an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sunday, envoys from the two countries locked horns over the attacks
Getty/Reuters
It echoed comments by Iranian envoy Amir Saeid Iravani, who claimed his country had been invoking its "inherent right to self-defence" and “had no choice” but to act.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilan Erdan, called on Security Council members to impose "all possible sanctions" on Iran, adding: "Today the council must take action (and) condemn Iran for their terror."
Guterres, the Secretary-General, warned against inflaming tensions any further by retaliating against Iran, adding that the Middle East was already "on the brink".
He said: "The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict.
"Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate. Neither the region nor the world can afford more war."
READ MORE ON IRAN AND ISRAEL:
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned against a possible Iranian nuclear threat
Reuters
Also on Sunday, Israel's five-man war cabinet convened to weigh up a response to the unprecedented Iranian attacks - Israeli officials said the cabinet favoured a retaliation, but was divided over the timing and scale of any military response, according to Reuters.
Though an official source in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office told NBC that Israel's military, the IDF, "will need to present options" and it was "clear that Israel will respond".
Benny Gantz, an Israeli minister who sits on the war cabinet, said ahead of the meeting: "We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us."
While the country's defence minister, Yoav Gallant, also called for an alliance "against this grave threat by Iran, which is threatening to mount nuclear explosives on these missiles, which could be an extremely grave threat".
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron cautioned that Israel should "think with its head, not heart"
Reuters
Speaking to Sky News after the UN talks, Iran's envoy Iravani said Israel "would know what our second retaliation would be... they understand the next one will be most decisive."
The deputy US ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, said: "If Iran or its proxies take actions against the United States or further action against Israel, Iran will be held responsible."
While UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron, speaking to the BBC, called the Iranian attack "a very dangerous act" but condemned it as a "failure" and a "double defeat" for "malign influence" Iran.
While the foreign secretary stated Israel would be "perfectly justified" if it were to retaliate, he cautioned that it should "think with its head, not heart".
