UNITED NATIONS, Jun 14 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres released a statement Friday denouncing the escalation in the Middle East amid the Israeli military’s strikes on Iranian sites.
“The Secretary-General condemns any military escalation in the Middle East,” said a statement by his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Aziz Haq.
Meanwhile, Iran called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to hold Israel accountable for its attack that targeted the Iranian nuclear programme and military facilities and killed its top commanders and scientists.
The official news agency IRNA said Iran’s permanent mission to the UN sent an urgent letter to the Security Council, condemning Israel’s air strikes.
The letter requested an emergency Security Council meeting to “hold Israel accountable for its clear act of aggression.”
The mission also emphasized that the Israeli attacks “amounted to a declaration of war against Iran,” stressing that Tehran reserved its right to legitimate defense.
On his part, Guterres said he is “particularly concerned by Israeli attacks on nuclear installations in Iran while talks between Iran and the United States on the status of Iran’s nuclear program are underway.”
Reminding the member states to “act in accordance with the UN Charter and international law,” the statement noted that the UN chief “asks both sides to show maximum restraint, avoiding at all costs a descent into deeper conflict, a situation that the region can hardly afford.”
The statement came after Israel launched a sweeping military operation against Iran on Friday, with strikes targeting its nuclear programme and long-range missile capabilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech posted on YouTube that his forces struck the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme. We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponization programme.”
Meanwhile, Iranian state media reported that the Israeli strikes killed top Iranian military officials, including the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Gen. Hossein Salami.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to respond to Israel with “severe punishment.”
“The Zionist regime has committed a crime in our dear country today at dawn with its satanic, bloodstained hands. It has revealed its malicious nature even more than before by targeting residential areas,” Khamenei said.
In an update on Friday, the head of the UN-backed atomic watchdog announced that the Iranian authorities had confirmed that the Natanz enrichment site had been “impacted” without affecting existing radiation levels.
The Iranian nuclear safety authorities also reported that the Esfahan and Fordow sites had not been impacted.
“This development is deeply concerning,” said Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“I have repeatedly stated that nuclear facilities must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment. Such attacks have serious implications for nuclear safety, security and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security.”
According to reports, the Israeli military attacks targeted Iran’s nuclear programme at various sites across the country late Thursday.
The development comes as the United States was scheduled to begin a fresh round of negotiations with Tehran on Saturday in Oman. Israeli schools closed on Friday in anticipation of a retaliatory strikes by Iran, with reports that around 100 drones had been launched towards Israel in the early hours.
