UN Security Council Holds Emergency Session on Iran

(MENAFN) The UN Security Council convened an extraordinary emergency session Saturday in response to sweeping military strikes launched against Iran by the United States and Israel, triggering immediate condemnation from world powers and urgent calls to pull back from the brink of wider war.

Addressing the council, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced both the U.S.-Israeli offensive and Iran's retaliatory strikes, stating that the counterattacks had violated "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates."

Guterres cautioned that military escalation in one of the world's most combustible regions risks triggering a cascade of consequences beyond any party's ability to manage, insisting that "international law and international humanitarian law must always be respected."

"There is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes," the UN chief stated, adding that lasting peace can only be achieved through peaceful means, including genuine dialogue and negotiations.

The secretary-general revealed that the strikes came on the heels of a third round of indirect U.S.-Iran negotiations brokered by Oman, with technical talks in Vienna and a fresh round of political discussions scheduled for the coming week. "I deeply regret that this opportunity of diplomacy has been squandered," he said.

Pressing all sides to step back, Guterres cautioned that "the alternative is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability."

"Everything must be done to prevent a further escalation," he added, urging an immediate return to nuclear negotiations.

Iran's UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, delivered a blistering rebuke, labeling the assault "unprovoked and premeditated aggression" and asserting that strikes had "deliberately" targeted densely populated civilian zones across multiple major cities, leaving hundreds dead or wounded.

"No justification, no accusation, no narrative of disinformation can legitimize or excuse this manifest crime and aggression," Iravani said, condemning the offensive as "a blatant act of aggression, a full-fledged violation of international law."

He further charged that the attack constituted "a war against the international legal order upon which the United Nations and the Security Council have been built for over eight decades."

China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Fu Cong, said Beijing was deeply alarmed by the sudden deterioration of regional security following what he described as Washington and Tel Aviv outrageously launching military strikes on Iranian soil. Fu reaffirmed that China opposes the use or threat of force in international relations, stressing that the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of Iran and neighboring states must be upheld.

Russia's UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, offered some of the session's sharpest language, declaring the joint operation "a deliberate, premeditated, and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state, in direct violation of the fundamental principles and norms of international law."

Nebenzya further stated that the U.S. and Israeli military operation "has been a betrayal of diplomacy," warning that the strike had gravely destabilized peace and security across the Middle East.

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