Security guards surround the Israeli embassy in Washington on May 22, 2025, following a shooting that killed two employees. (Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP.)
BEIRUT — Several Israeli embassies around the world have announced their closure to the public, following massive strikes carried out overnight from Thursday to Friday against military and nuclear sites in Iran.
"In light of recent developments, Israeli missions worldwide will be closed and consular services will not be provided," states a message posted on the websites of embassies in several countries, including France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Tehran has labeled these strikes by the Israeli air force, which killed the highest-ranking Iranian officials, including the chief of the army staff, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, as well as the commander of the aerospace force of this ideological army of the Islamic Republic, as a "declaration of war."
This unprecedented attack by the Israeli military on Iranian soil also targeted the underground uranium enrichment site at Natanz in the center of the country.
Calls for de-escalation have multiplied around the world, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the military operation would last "many days."
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