PETALING JAYA: The government will bring back Malaysian students in Iran if the situation deteriorates following Israel’s retaliatory missile strike on the country this morning, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.
“We will hold a meeting this evening and discuss the matter. If the situation becomes worrying, we will bring the students back,” he told reporters after Friday prayers here.
Anwar reiterated Malaysia’s international position, calling for peace and condemning Israel.
Last weekend, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles against Israel in an attack that Tel Aviv said caused little damage after most of the projectiles were intercepted.
This morning, ABC News reported that Israeli missiles hit a site in Iran, while Iran’s Fars news agency said an explosion was heard at an airport in Isfahan, but the cause was not immediately known.
Several Iranian nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, centrepiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme.
“Our stand is clear, Israel’s Zionist ruthlessly attacked the Iranian consulate, so this breached international law and the West did not oppose it,” Anwar said, referencing the Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1.
“Iran used that incident as an excuse to retaliate in a controlled manner but now Israel used that narrative to retaliate against Iran,” he said.
It was reported that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to respond to the attack amid concerns by its US ally about the possibility it could escalate the conflict.
