UN Rights Chief Warns Escalating Iran Conflict Risks Global Crisis

(MENAFN) The United Nations human rights chief has cautioned that the intensifying conflict involving Iran could expand into a wider international crisis, stressing that warfare must not be used as a mechanism for conducting global relations.

In a video address to an urgent session of the Human Rights Council focused on the situation in Iran, Volker Turk described the situation as highly volatile and unpredictable, warning that civilians across the region are increasingly bearing the consequences.

He referred to ongoing strikes involving the United States and Israel on Iran, as well as retaliatory attacks by Iran targeting Gulf countries and Jordan. He noted that many of these actions raise significant legal concerns under international law, particularly regarding the protection of civilians and restrictions on attacks that may cause disproportionate harm.

Turk also highlighted the broader regional risks, noting potential impacts on countries such as Iraq, Syria, and the occupied Palestinian territory. He warned that recent missile activity near nuclear facilities in both Israel and Iran underscores the danger of further escalation, describing the situation as one where states are “flirting with unmitigated catastrophe.”

He further pointed out that the conflict is already affecting global trade flows, particularly through disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, which could have ripple effects on global energy supplies and food security.

According to his remarks, attacks on civilian infrastructure continue to raise serious legal concerns, and deliberate targeting of civilians could constitute violations of international humanitarian law.

Turk emphasized that the conflict has the potential to draw in multiple countries across regions, making it unusually far-reaching in scope. He argued that the only reliable way to prevent further escalation is to bring the conflict to an end.

He also called on the international community to defend the rules-based global order, warning that weakening multilateral institutions could undermine global stability. “When some powerful states are trying to weaken the multilateral system, we need the rest – the vast majority – to stand up for it,” he said, concluding: “We cannot go back to war as a tool of international relations.”

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