UN Security Council holds emergency session on Israeli strikes against Iran

The UN Security Council on Monday convened for an emergency session to discuss the Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend.

The emergency session was requested by Russia, Algeria, and China following a letter sent by Iran's UN envoy Amir Said Iravani to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and members of the Security Council.

UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East and Asia and the Pacific, Khaled Khiari, told the Security Council that Guterres condemns "all acts of escalation," and urged for an end to "belligerent and threatening rhetoric."

"Both sides must stop testing the limits of each other's restraint and act in the interest of peace and stability for the region," he said, adding that "the past year has unleashed untold suffering for people across the Middle East."

Khiari highlighted the "unbearable conditions" of Palestinians in northern Gaza, and said that "the levels of death, injury and destruction in the north are harrowing."

Stating that those in need of treatment are living "without life-saving health care," Khiari also recalled that "the postponed of the final phase of the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza is putting the lives of thousands of children at risk."

- 'Risk of the Israeli aggression'

Algerian envoy to the UN, Amar Bendjama, reiterated his warning over "the risk of the Israeli aggression against Gaza spreading across the Middle East," and said: "Unfortunately, this risk has become a reality."

"We face a regional conflict with serious and foreseeable global consequences," he said, criticizing some Security Council members who are "reluctant" to describe the situation "a threat to international peace and security."

"The Israeli attacks are deniable breach of international peace, and this Council must act to restore international peace and security," he said.

Calling on the council members to "impose an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon," Bendjama urged to "bring an end to the Israeli occupation of all Arab lands."

- Russian criticism of Israel and US

Russian envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, described Israel's strikes on Iran as "predictable" and criticized the US and its allies for not attempting to dissuade Israel from launching airstrikes against Iran.

Saying that Israel "provoked a new spiral of violence in the Middle East," Nebenzia recalled reports of US sharing of "intelligence" with Israel to carry out the attack and described it as "violation of international law."

He urged Israel to "refrain from the practice of provocative military actions of the Middle East."

China's UN envoy, Fu Cong, also condemned the attack against Iran, and echoed his Russian and Algerian colleagues.

Fu expressed "grave concern" over the escalation "caused by Israel's action," and urged "Israel to effectively cease all provocative acts."

Calling all sides to exercise restraint, the Chinese envoy stressed the need to follow the UN Charter and the principles of international law.

Saying that "worsening of tensions" in the Middle East is a result of not reaching a cease-fire in Gaza, Fu said that "the council should utilize all the means available to it under the charter to ensure the implementation of its relevant resolutions."

China also called on US, without naming them, to use their influence on Israel and "curb the expansion and spread of the conflict."

- 'Israel has a right to defend itself'

US envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield reiterated her country's support to Israel and said "Israel has a right to defend itself against Iran's attacks, and that is precisely what Israel did this weekend."

Stating that "US did not participate in this military operation," she said the US aided Israel to shape the operation.

"Today, the United States' message for Israel remains clear: we will always help secure its people and territory from Iran and its terrorist proxies and partners," she added.

She warned Iran against taking "further aggressive acts against Israel or US personnel in the region," and said "there will be severe consequences. We will not hesitate to act in self-defense."

Meanwhile, she also claimed the US "does not want to further to see further escalation," and urged for the latest incident to "be the end of the direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran."

She criticized the Iranian envoy's request for the emergency session, and said that Iranian mission "seeks to gaslight and deflect to claim the role of victim, while continuing to sow chaos across the region and because Russia is increasingly reliant on Iranian weapons to sustain its illegal, unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine."

- US 'complicit in the ongoing war crimes'

Iran's envoy to UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, described Israel's act as flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter.

Iravani said Israel's attack against Iran is "part of a broader, sustained pattern of aggression and unchecked impunity."

Noting that Israel continues to "destabilize the entire region, most notably through its ongoing aggression, ethnic cleansing and war crimes against the Palestinian and Lebanese people," Iravani strongly condemned Israeli aggression.

He further criticized US' "unwavering and unconditional support" to Israel, and blamed the US for also being "complicit in the ongoing war crimes and genocidal campaign targeting civilian infrastructure both in Gaza and Lebanon."

"The vast majority of bombs Israeli drops on Gaza and Lebanon are US made," he said, adding that "Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its inherent right to respond at the time of its choosing to this act of aggression."