US Issues Security Alert For Staff In Israel Amid Iranian Threats. Russia, West Urge Restraint

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed a revenge against the attack on Iranian embassy in Damascus which has put the Middle East on edge.

The United States has said that it has restricted its employees in Israel and their family members from personal travels outside the greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Be'er Sheva amid threats by Iran to retaliate against the attack on its embassy in Syria's Damascus. 

The threat by Iran against attack on its embassy has ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East which is already strained by the Gaza war. The April 1 attack had killed a top Iranian general and six other Iranian military officers

In a security alert, the US embassy on Thursday said: "Out of an abundance of caution, U.S. government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv (including Herzliya, Netanya, and Even Yehuda), Jerusalem, and Be'er Sheva areas until further notice." 

"U.S. government personnel are authorised to transit between these three areas for personal travel," it added. 

While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Israel "must be punished and it shall be".

Russia, West Urge Constraint 

Amid heightened threats by Iran, Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom have urged the countries in the Middle East to show restraint while Israel said it was preparing to "meet all its security needs". 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on her Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian to urge "maximum restraint" to avoid further escalation, reported Reuters. 

The German airline Lufthansa, which is one of the only two Western carriers flying to Tehran, extended suspension of its flights while Russia also warned against travel to the Middle East, especially to Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

"Right now it's very important for everyone to maintain restraint so as not to lead to a complete destabilisation of the situation in the region, which doesn't exactly shine with stability and predictability," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing.

British foreign minister David Cameroon also told Amirabdollahian that Iran should not draw the Middle East into a wider conflict.