German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Sunday that Iran's overnight attack on Israel had taken the Middle East to the "edge of a precipice" and called for restraint.

She said Tehran had "plunged an entire region into chaos" and said the spiralling tensions needed to end.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz denounced a "grave escalation", underlined Berlin's "solidarity" with Israel and called for restraint, telling reporters during a visit to China that "we cannot but call on everyone, in particular Iran, to not continue along this path."