The United Nations Security Council convened an emergency session on Friday as Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel in retaliation for attacks on its nuclear facilities, prompting the UN nuclear watchdog chief to warn of “grave consequences” from military strikes on atomic sites.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi stated, “Any military action that jeopardises the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond.”
He added that the IAEA’s General Conference had declared military attacks on nuclear facilities to be in violation of the UN Charter and international law.
UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, addressing the emergency session requested by Iran, said, “We must at all costs avoid a growing conflagration which would have enormous global consequences.”
She noted that Israel launched the attack on Iran at a time when “significant diplomatic developments” were underway, including scheduled talks between Washington and Tehran in Oman on Sunday. Iran has since withdrawn from those negotiations.
“A peaceful resolution through negotiations remains the best means to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme,” she emphasised.
A senior US State Department official, McCoy Pitt, told the Council that the United States remained open to diplomacy.
“We seek a secure peace,” Pitt said. “As President Trump stated, the violence must come to an end, and Iran should make a deal so there is ‘no more death, no more destruction’. The United States will continue to seek a diplomatic resolution that ensures Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon or pose a threat to stability in the Middle East.”
“Iran’s leadership would be wise to negotiate at this time,” he added.
During his first term, President Trump withdrew from an international agreement that aimed to limit Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for easing sanctions. However, in recent months, he had been pursuing a new agreement with Tehran—efforts that now appear to have been derailed by Israel’s strike.
Iran’s Permanent Representative, Amir Saeid Iravani, said the Israeli attack was intended “to kill diplomacy, sabotage negotiations, and drag the region into a wider conflict.”
He also accused Washington of complicity in the attack.
Pitt denied that the US was involved, though he acknowledged that Washington had been informed in advance.
Israel’s Permanent Representative, Danny Danon, defended the operation as “an act of national preservation.” He presented a photo of a countdown clock in Tehran, allegedly tied to a plan to annihilate Israel.
Israel’s mission, he said, was to “neutralise the Iranian regime’s ability to follow through on its repeated public promise to destroy the State of Israel.”
Danon claimed the strikes were precise and specifically targeted nuclear facilities.
IANS
