World powers urged restraint on Sunday for fear that Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone strikes on Israel could spark a wider war in the Middle East, as the United Nations heard a call for new sanctions against Tehran, AFP reports.

Iran launched the attack, its first ever to directly target Israeli territory, in retaliation for a deadly air strike widely blamed on Israel that destroyed Tehran’s consular building in Syria’s capital early this month.

The strikes raised Middle East tensions to a dangerous new level six months into a deadly conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, prompting international cries of alarm.

“Neither the region nor the world can afford more war,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the body’s Security Council as it met to discuss Saturday’s Iranian attack.

“The Middle East is on the brink,” he warned. “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.” Israel’s UN envoy, Gilad Erdan, urged the Council to “impose all possible sanctions on Iran before it’s too late” and “condemn Iran for their terror”.

G7 leaders earlier said they were ready to “take further measures” in response to “destabilising initiatives”.

Iran’s UN envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, retorted that the Islamic republic was exercising its “inherent right to self-defence” and “had no choice” but to act.

He insisted his country did “not seek escalation or war”, but would respond to any “threat or aggression”.