Attack on Israel

Former NATO chief: Tehran did not want to land a hit

Former NATO Secretary General George Robertson(Bild: AFP)

Former NATO Secretary General George Robertson has called on Israel to show restraint in its response to the Iranian attack. Although Iran's first direct attack was a "dramatic escalation", Tehran obviously did not want to land a hit.

 "It seems clear that Iran set up its attack so that it could be contained by the Israelis," said the former British defense minister in Vienna on Monday. Israel, however, does not see it that way "and that is why tempers are running high", Robertson continued.

No "game changer" in the Middle East conflict
However, he does not believe that the Iranian attack is a "game changer" in the Middle East conflict. "What happens next depends on how Israel reacts. Like the rest of the world, I hope they will be restrained in what they do," emphasized the MP from the opposition British Labour Party.

Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and is clearly targeted by many malevolent forces in the region.

Der frühere NATO-Generalsekretär George Robertson

Robertson also backed Israel's right to defend itself. "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and is clearly targeted by many malevolent forces in the region." Asked whether Israel could win a war against Iran, the former top NATO official said: "I don't know. Morally, they are more than capable of defeating Iran."

First Defense Minister, then NATO Secretary General
Robertson was a member of the first government of Labour leader Tony Blair as Defense Minister from 1997, and two years later he moved to the headquarters of the defense alliance in Brussels as NATO Secretary General. During his four-year term of office, NATO declared the first and so far only Article 5 state of the Alliance - following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. Robertson is in Vienna at the invitation of the NATO Contact Embassy Slovenia and will give a lecture at the Diplomatic Academy on Tuesday to mark the 75th anniversary of the defense alliance.