United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Saturday night that he is “gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today.”
He deemed Washington’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities “a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge—and a direct threat to international peace and security.”
Guterres warned of a “growing risk” that the conflict “could rapidly get out of control, with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”
He called on U.N. member states to “de-escalate and to uphold their obligations under the U.N. Charter and other rules of international law.
“At this perilous hour” Guterres added, “it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos. There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace.”
The U.N. Security Council held an emergency session on Friday at the request of Iran.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon blasted his Iranian counterpart for forcing the session to voice complaints about Israeli military strikes on the Islamic Republic.
“You are not a diplomat. You are a wolf in disguise,” Danon told Amir Saeid Iravani, the regime’s envoy. “How dare you come here to ask for help while your regime calls for the destruction of our people.”
The session took place amid a week-long series of strikes between the two sides following the launch by Israel on June 13 of “Operation Rising Lion,” an ongoing military campaign against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
