UN chief condemns US-Israeli attacks on Iran. He will soon brief the Security Council

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief condemned the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran and called for an immediate return to negotiations, issuing a statement shortly before an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday.

Secretary-General António Guterres, who is scheduled to brief the 15-member council, warned that the attacks and Iran’s retaliation across the region “undermine international peace and security” and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said it was “hypocrisy” to condemn the airstrikes. He said Iran is responsible for the actions of its proxies in the Middle East and for its nuclear and missile programs, and Israel and the U.S. acted “to prevent an irreversible and immediate threat.”

Five council members — Bahrain, which is the Arab representative on the council, France, Russia, China and Colombia — called for the emergency meeting.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a letter to the secretary-general, accused the United States and Israel of “flagrantly” violating Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the U.N. Charter. He said Iran was exercising its right to self-defense under the charter in response.

He urged the council members “to take the necessary and immediate measures to halt this unlawful use of force and to ensure accountability.” And he called for an unequivocal condemnation of “this act of aggression … as it undoubtedly poses an unprecedented threat to regional as well as global peace and security.”

In a joint statement, the leaders of Britain and France — both veto-wielding members of the council — along with Germany’s chancellor called for a resumption of U.S.-Iranian talks on Tehran’s nuclear program. The three countries, part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, have led efforts to reach a negotiated solution. President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2018.

The three European leaders strongly condemned Iranian airstrikes in the region — not the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes — and urged Iran’s leaders to seek a negotiated solution, saying: “Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future.”

The Security Council meeting is taking place on the last day of the United Kingdom’s presidency and a day before the United States takes over the rotating presidency for the month of March.