[HIGHLIGHTS] The Iranian threat: France withdraws diplomats and their families from Iran and asks its citizens to “refrain” from traveling to the region

France asks French citizens not to travel to Iran, Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. France withdraws diplomats and family members from Iran.

Iran has been threatening a response over the alleged Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Iran's message to Washington was conveyed by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian during a visit on Sunday to the Gulf Arab state of Oman, sources say. The United States would participate alongside Israel in a counterattack, if Iran decides to directly attack the Jewish state, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said. The White House declined to comment on any messages from Iran, but said Iran has "been very clear" that its response to the attack in Damascus would be "controlled" and "non-escalation" They added that Iran planned to "use regional proxies" to launch a series of attacks against Israel. The Iranian “retaliation” will occur as a result of a “proxy for a Lebanese missile attack on Iran, where 2 Quds commanders and 15 other people died,” one of the commanders said.