United Nations. “Neither the region nor the world can afford more wars,” UN Secretary General António Guterres cried this Sunday, demanding “maximum moderation” at an emergency meeting of the Security Council convened after the drone and missile attack. They will go to Israel.
“The Middle East is on the brink of a precipice. The people of the region face a real danger of widespread and devastating conflict. This is a time for de-escalation and détente. It is time to show maximum restraint,” he insisted.
“It is vital to avoid any action that could lead to major military clashes on multiple fronts in the Middle East,” he added.
“Neither the region nor the world can afford more wars,” he insisted.
The Secretary General also reiterated his condemnation of the attack launched on Saturday by Iran against Israel, denouncing a “serious escalation.” He at the same time criticized once again the attack against the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1 attributed to Israel, underlining the “principle of inviolability” of diplomatic representations.
According to the Israeli military, Iran sent “a swarm of 300 killer drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles” overnight from Saturday to Sunday, an attack that the Israelis claim to have largely thwarted.
Since the Iranian revolution of 1979, Israel has been the sworn enemy of the Islamic Republic.
But until now Tehran had refrained from attacking Israel frontally and the two countries were used to confronting each other through third parties, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah.
The Iranian offensive, dubbed “Honest Promise,” is a response to the attack that destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus and cost the lives of seven members of the Revolutionary Guard.
Iran accused Israel of this fact, which neither confirmed nor denied it.
This attack came more than six months after the start of the Israeli-led offensive in the Gaza Strip against the Iranian-backed Palestinian group Hamas, which further increased tensions between the two enemy countries.
Guterres again called on Sunday for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and the release of hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7 attack on Israel, which started the conflict in the Palestinian territory.
Tehran will respond if the US begins a military operation
Iran will respond if Washington begins a military operation against the country, declared the Iranian permanent representative to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani.
“If the US initiates military action against Iran, its citizens or its interests, Iran will exercise its right to respond proportionally,” Iravani said at the UN Security Council meeting.
According to the diplomat, Iran is not seeking escalation or war in the Middle East, but “will not hesitate” to defend itself and its interests.
He added that Iran exercised the right to self-defense after the Security Council’s refusal to condemn Israel’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
“The UN failed in its duty to maintain international peace and security. Russia proposed a press statement to condemn the atrocity, which was supported by China, Algeria and many members, but was blocked by the US, UK and France,” said.
In this context, the diplomat continued, “Iran had no choice but to exercise its right to self-defense within the framework of international law.”
Israel calls for immediate measures against Iran
The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, described the “attack of epic proportions” and has called for immediate measures to stop Tehran.
The world “must stop ignoring Iran’s crimes and act.” “Iran’s mask has fallen and the world’s complacency must also fall. The mask falls and we must put on the gloves,” said Erdan, who defends “imposing all possible sanctions on Iran before it is too late.”
“We need a world led by Churchills, not by Chamberlains,” he said in reference to British Prime Ministers Neville Chamberlain, denounced for appeasing the Nazi regime, and Winston Churchill, who led the United Kingdom in the war against Adolf Hitler’s Germany. during world war II.
“Enough of red carpets here at the UN. Enough of appeasement. Today the Council must act, condemn Iran for its terror, activate the reverse mechanism and restore the crippling sanctions,” he added. This response “is not for Israel, nor for the region, but for the world.” “Stop Iran today,” Erdan snapped.
For the Iranian representative “the only option is to condemn Iran and resort to all necessary means to make them pay a high price for their horrendous crimes.” “Iran and its axis of followers must see that the civilized world is no longer paralyzed,” he said.
Erdan recalled that Iran has launched 170 drones, 120 ballistic missiles and 30 cruise missiles carrying a total of 60 tons of explosive. “Iran has shown again that it cares nothing about Islam or Muslims. The Iranian attack seriously injured a seven-year-old Bedouin girl, Amina al Jasuni,” she noted.
In addition, he showed a video of Israeli anti-aircraft systems “intercepting Iranian projectiles over the Temple Mount and the Al Aqsa Mosque.” “For Iran, the annihilation of Israel and burning down the region is more important than the Islamic holy places. The ayatollah regime wants to impose global Shiite hegemony through its subsidiaries”, the “tentacles of the Shiite octopus”, he highlighted.
Erdan has thus denounced the “plan of the ayatollah regime”, which aspires to “dominate the world by exporting its radical Shiite revolution.” “Today’s Islamic regime is no different from the Third Reich and Ayatollah (Ali) Khamenei is no different from Adolf Hitler,” he said.
This regime is the one that “is approaching nuclear capability,” “a terrorist state responsible for global terrorism.” “The deadline for the production of an arsenal of nuclear weapons is now weeks, just weeks,” he lamented.
Erdan has warned in any case that Israel reserves the legal right to respond. “We are not a frog in boiling water. We are a nation of lions. After this massive and direct attack against Israel, the entire world, not just Israel, cannot sit idly by,” he stressed.
The US asks the Council to condemn the Iranian attack and underlines its interest in reducing tension
The deputy representative of the United States to the UN, Robert Wood, has raised before the United Nations Security Council the need to condemn the Iranian military offensive on Israel, although he has highlighted his country’s interest in reducing tension in the region.
“In the coming days…the United States will explore additional measures to hold Iran accountable here at the United Nations. More immediately, the Security Council must unequivocally condemn Iran’s aggressive actions and urge Iran and its partners to allies to stop their non-compliance,” he declared during his speech.
In any case, Wood has stressed that “the United States does not want an escalation.” “Our actions have been purely defensive in nature. The best way to avoid this escalation is an unequivocal condemnation in the Security Council of Iran’s unprecedented, large-scale attack,” he stressed.
The US representative has also referred to the situation in the Gaza Strip and has defended the need to implement a ceasefire, reach an agreement for the release of the hostages and increase humanitarian aid for the Gazan population.
Russia reproaches the West for its “double standards” for not condemning the Israeli bombings in Syria, Lebanon or Gaza
The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasili Nebenzia, has denounced the “double standards” of Washington and its allies, who are now asking to condemn Tehran’s attack against Israel while they have refused to condemn the “constant” Israeli bombings on Syria, Lebanon or the Gaza Strip.
“They reacted instantly and publicly and condemned Iran’s actions. It is regrettable that they then (…) asked for more evaluations (…) when we proposed to unequivocally condemn these reckless actions to ensure that they were not repeated,” the representative argued. Russian during the extraordinary session.
Nebenzia recalled the Israeli attack against the Iranian Consulate in Damascus on April 1st even represents a “casualty of war” in accordance with International Law. However, “the United States, the United Kingdom and France basically refused to confirm the basic principle of International Law on the inviolability of diplomatic and consular offices enshrined in the Vienna Conventions,” he criticized.
“If a Western diplomatic representation had been attacked, there would have been reprisals and arguments that you are right in this very room,” he argued. Thus, Nebenzia has warned that as long as this attitude persists, his calls for containment “will continue to be useless.”
The Russian delegate recalled that the Iranian attack “did not occur in a vacuum” and referred to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the “regrettable passivity of the Security Council” and stressed the need to reduce tension in the area and achieve a strictly diplomatic and dialogue solution to the conflicts.
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– 2024-04-15 12:12:48
