Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said that missile attacks by Iran on Israel were “unacceptable”, warning against an escalation into “full-on war”.

“Iran’s attack is unacceptable. We condemn this strongly. But at the same time, we would like to cooperate (with the United States) to defuse the situation and prevent it from escalating into a full-on war,” AFP quoted Ishiba as telling reporters.

Ishiba made the comments after a phone call with US President Joe Biden following his appointment as Japanese prime minister on Tuesday.

“Under the leadership of [predecessor Fumio Kishida and Biden] the Japan-US alliance strengthened significantly. I told [Biden] I would like to inherit that policy and strive to make it stronger,” Ishiba said.

“I told him we would like to strengthen the network of like-minded countries as well,” Ishiba said, mentioning South Korea, Australia, India and the Philippines.