Israel launched a "diplomatic offensive" against Iran on Tuesday, calling on 32 countries to impose sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards and their missile program.

Late on Saturday, Iran carried out an unprecedented direct attack on Israel, using more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, in retaliation for a deadly April 1 air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Iran's direct attack on Israel over the weekend upended decades of its shadowy warfare by proxy, something Tehran has used to manage international repercussions for its actions. But with both economic and political tensions at home boiling, the country's Shiite theocracy chose a new path as changes loom for the Islamic Republic.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will mark his 85th birthday Friday, with no clear successor in sight and still serving as the final arbiter of every decision Iran makes. Coming to power in the wake of Iran's devastating eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, Khamenei preached for years about "strategic patience" in confronting his government's main rivals, Israel and the United States, to avoid open combat.

Israel's armed forces chief has vowed to respond to Iran's unprecedented attack against the country, even after appeals for restraint poured in from world leaders fearing wider regional conflict.

During six months of war between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza, Iran's proxies around the region have stepped up attacks on Israel and its allies, saying they are acting in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

President Joe Biden is set to host Iraq's leader this week for talks that come as tensions across the Middle East have soared over the war in Gaza and Iran's unprecedented weekend attack on Israel in retaliation for an Israeli military strike against an Iranian facility in Syria.

The sharp rise in security fears has raised further questions about the viability of the two-decade American military presence in Iraq, through which portions of Iran's Saturday drone and missile attack on Israel flew or were launched from. A U.S. Patriot battery in Irbil, Iraq, knocked down at least one Iranian ballistic missile, according to American officials.

Tehran on Monday called on Western nations to "appreciate Iran's restraint" towards Israel after it attacked its regional foe in response to a deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

"Instead of making accusations against Iran, (Western) countries should blame themselves and answer to public opinion for the measures they have taken against the... war crimes committed by Israel" in its war on Gaza, said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.

Israel is almost certain to retaliate at some stage against Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack, but the question is how and when, say security analysts.

World leaders have urged calm and the United States, Israel's top ally, called on Israel to refrain from a military response, at a time when the region is already in turmoil over the Gaza war.

Israeli leaders have credited an international military coalition with helping thwart a direct Iranian attack involving hundreds of drones and missiles, calling the coordinated response a starting point for a "strategic alliance" of regional opposition to Tehran.

But Israel's War Cabinet met without making a decision on next steps, an official said, as a nervous world waited for any sign of further escalation of the former shadow war.

Airports in Tehran and elsewhere in Iran resumed operations Monday, state media said, after a temporary suspension due to an aerial attack on arch for Israel that heightened regional tensions.

Flights were suspended after Iran launched late Saturday its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory, using drones and missiles, in retaliation for a deadly April 1 air strike on Tehran's consulate in Damascus which was widely attributed to Israel.

Israel and Iran accused one another Sunday at the United Nations of being the main threat to peace in the Middle East, each calling on the Security Council to impose sanctions on their sworn enemy.

"The mask is off. Iran, the number one global sponsor of terror, has exposed its true face as the destabilizer of the region and the world," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan told an emergency meeting of the Security Council convened after Tehran's unprecedented attack on Israel overnight.

President Joe Biden said U.S. forces helped Israel shoot down nearly all the drones and missiles fired by Iran Saturday, but appeared to guide the key U.S. ally away from retaliating against Tehran by saying Israel had now shown its strength.

Biden added that he was convening fellow G7 leaders on Sunday to coordinate a diplomatic response against Tehran, in another sign that he is trying to avoid any further military escalation that could ignite a wider Middle East conflict.