Iran has supported Syria's right to defend itself against aggression from Israel, state TV reports, accusing others of remaining silent over the attacks on Tehran's key regional ally.
"Iran strongly condemns ...(Israel's) attacks on Syria. The international community's silence encourages Israel's aggression. Syria has every right to defend itself," the broadcaster quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying on Friday.
Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria on Thursday after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time, in the most extensive military exchange ever between the two adversaries.
The confrontation came two days after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 multinational agreement aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program.
Tehran and its allied Shi'ite Muslim militias back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Since its Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has refused to recognise Israel.
Israel says it struck targets in Syria after Iranian rockets were fired onto the Golan Heights. Source: AAP
Calls for restraint
The unprecedented clashes between Israel and Iran over Syria have sparked calls for restraint from world leaders worried about the risk of all-out war, even as both sides say they want to avoid a regional conflict.
The bombardment led to calls for calm from Russia, France, Germany and Britain and the European Union, while the United States put the blame squarely on Iran and stressed Israel's right to "self-defence".
Germany and Britain joined the United States in denouncing the rocket fire towards the Israel-occupied Golan Heights they also said was carried out by Iran, while France reiterated its "unwavering support for Israel's security".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had "crossed a red line" and that the resulting bombardment against targets in Syria "was a consequence".
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone call that he did not want "new tensions" in the Middle East.
Rouhani did not mention Israel's strikes in Syria or those against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
But the chairman of his country's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Allaeddine Boroujerdi, condemned the strikes, warning that "Israel has entered a dangerous game".
The Israeli raids in Syria, which a monitor said killed 23 fighters, were one of its largest military operations in recent years and the biggest such assault on Iranian targets, the Israeli military said.
"We hit nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria," Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said.
"I hope we've finished this episode and everyone understood."
Israel carried out the raids after it said 20 rockets, either Fajr or Grad-type, were fired from Syria at its forces in the Golan Heights at around midnight.
It blamed Iran's Quds force, adding that Israel's anti-missile system intercepted four while the rest did not land in its territory. There were no Israeli casualties.
If confirmed, it would be the first time Iran has sought to directly attack Israeli-controlled territory aside from an alleged attempted drone assault in February.
