The United Nations chief condemned the US-Israeli air strikes on Iran yesterday and called for an immediate return to negotiations “to pull the region, and our world, back from the brink.”
Secretary-General António Guterres told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that everything must be done to prevent further escalation. “The alternative,” he warned, “is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.”
Guterres said the US and Israeli air strikes violated international law, including the UN Charter. He also condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, insisted the US military action was lawful.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he told the council. “That principle is not a matter of politics. It’s a matter of global security. And to that end, the United States is taking lawful actions.”
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon defended the air strikes as necessary to stop an existential threat.
“We are stopping extremism before it becomes unstoppable,” he said. “We will ensure that no radical regime armed with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles can threaten our people or the entire world.”
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iranian ambassador to the UN, told the council that the air strikes have killed and injured hundreds of Iranian civilians, which he called a war crime and a crime against humanity.
He blasted the UN and the Security Council, its most powerful body, for not heeding Tehran’s warnings about the “warmongering statements” by the US in recent weeks and urged the council to act now.
“The issue before the council is straightforward: whether any member state may, including a permanent member of this council, through the use of force, coercion or aggression, determine the political future or system of another state or impose control over its affairs,” Iravani said.
Russia’s ambassador condemned the US-Israeli air strikes, while China’s ambassador was more measured in his criticism.
“We demand that the US and Israel immediately cease their aggressive actions,” Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. “We insist on the immediate resumption of political and diplomatic settlement efforts ... based on international law, mutual respect and a balance of interests.”
China’s UN Ambassador Fu Cong said China was very concerned by “the sudden escalation of regional tensions” and supported Russia’s call for a return to diplomatic negotiations.
Five council members – Bahrain, which is the Arab representative on the council, France, Russia, China and Colombia – called for the emergency meeting.
In a joint statement, the leaders of Britain and France – both veto-wielding members of the council – along with Germany’s chancellor called for a resumption of US-Iranian talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The three countries, part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, have led efforts to reach a negotiated solution. Trump pulled the US out of the deal in 2018.
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