By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Israel, backed by america, and Iran on Wednesday threatened one another with retaliation if attacked because the United Nations Safety Council met amid fears of a wider warfare within the Center East.
“This deadly cycle of tit-for-tat violence must stop,” U.N. Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres informed the 15-member council. “Time is running out.”
The council met after Israel killed the chief of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and started a floor assault in opposition to the Iran-backed militant group and Iran attacked Israel in a missile strike.
“Israel will defend itself. We will act. And let me assure you, the consequences Iran will face for their actions will be far greater than they could ever have imagined,” Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon informed the council.
Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saied Iravani stated the missile assault on Tuesday was “to restore balance and deterrence.” He stated additional escalation could possibly be prevented if Israel stopped the warfare in Gaza and assaults on Lebanon.
“Iran is fully prepared to take further defensive measures, if necessary, to protect its legitimate interests and defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty against any acts of military aggression and the illegal use of force,” he stated.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield informed the council that U.S. assist for Israel had been defensive.
“Let me be clear: The Iranian regime will be held responsible for its actions. And we strongly warn against Iran – or its proxies – taking actions against the United States, or further actions against Israel,” she stated.
French U.N. Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere stated France needs the Safety Council to “show unity and to speak with one voice” to de-escalate the state of affairs. Thomas-Greenfield stated the council ought to condemn Iran and impose “serious consequences” on Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps for its actions.
Israel and america each known as for sanctions on Iran.
‘EXCEPTIONAL’ RESTRAINT
Guterres informed the council he strongly condemned Iran’s assault on Israel. Earlier on Wednesday, Israel’s overseas minister stated he was barring Guterres from getting into the nation as a result of he had not carried out so.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia praised Iran for “exceptional” restraint in current months and stated the missile assault on Israel couldn’t be “presented as though all of this happened in a vacuum, as though nothing is happening – and nothing did happen – in Lebanon and Gaza, in Syria, in Yemen.”
“But it did happen, and it led to a new, very dangerous spiral of a widening Middle East conflict,” Nebenzia stated.
A lethal Oct. 7 assault on Israel by Hamas triggered the warfare in Gaza, the place authorities say greater than 41,000 folks have been killed as Israel’s navy has leveled swaths of the enclave, driving practically all of its 2.3 million folks from their properties.
Hezbollah and the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen have been firing rockets at Israel in sympathy with the Palestinians.
Over the previous yr, the Safety Council has adopted 4 resolutions on the warfare between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, most just lately in June when it backed a ceasefire proposal outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden.
Russia’s Nebenzia accused the U.S. of “trying to pull the wool over our eyes” by pushing quiet diplomacy that’s but to supply a deal to finish the warfare in Gaza.
“To be perfectly honest with you, we are left with the impression by all of this, that these mediated negotiations are something that Washington is conducting with itself,” he stated.
Thomas-Greenfield stated the occasions of the previous week ought to ship an unambiguous message to Hamas leaders.
“Hezbollah and Iran will not rescue you,” she stated. “The only path forward is a ceasefire agreement. We must double down on diplomatic solutions that would ensure the safety of people across the region.”