NEW DELHI: The United Nations Security Council has urged for urgent diplomatic efforts to “change the trajectory” and seek a path towards regional peace and stability amid rising tensions in West Asia following the recent killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah’s military commander Fuad Shukr.
“The UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss alarming developments in the Middle East,” Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs told the Council in the briefing of the UNSC held on July 31.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran’s capital Tehran early on Wednesday, while a day earlier Hezbollah’s most senior military commander was killed in an Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut.
The UNSC under-secretary general said that Iran in a letter to the Council President has accused Israel of carrying out an attack that killed Haniyeh and Tehran claimed it was a “serious infringement” of Iran’s sovereignty and territory integrity and a “blatant violation” of international law.
DiCarlo cited a pledge by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to avenge Haniyeh’s death.
Various non-State armed groups aligned with Iran across the region have also threatened to retaliate against Israel, she added.
The UNSC under-secretary general cited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks stating that Israel had launched strikes against three fronts, including Hamas, Hizbullah and the Houthis and stating that that his country was fighting an existential war with Iran.
“Today’s strike in Tehran follows in the wake of several recent escalatory events in the region. While violence continues unabated in Gaza after months of relentless diplomatic efforts, the situation across the Blue Line and inside Lebanon is on an increasingly worrying path,” DiCalro said.
Saying that recent attacks pose “a serious and dangerous escalation,” DiCarlo emphasized the need for “diplomatic efforts to change the trajectory and seek a path toward regional peace and stability.”
Stating “communication by means of missiles, armed drones and other deadly attacks must end”, the UNSC official calling on the international community to “work together to prevent any actions that could make the conflict much bigger and wider very quickly.”
DiCarlo called for “swift and effective diplomatic action for regional de-escalation.”
“This Council plays a crucial role in this regard. The time is now,” she said.
The Council’s emergency meeting on the killing of Haniyeh comes after a request by Iran that was supported by Russia, Algeria and China.
China, Russia, Algeria and others condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN underscored Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Hizbullah and other terrorists.
He urged members of the Security Council with influence over Iran “to increase pressure on it to stop escalating its proxy conflict against Israel and other actors.”
Japan’s representative to the UN Shino Mitsuko expressed concern that “the region is closer than ever to a large-scale conflict that would be difficult to contain”.
Russia said termed the “political assassination” as “a serious blow to mediation negotiations between Hamas and Israel towards a ceasefire in Gaza”. The Russian representative warned against efforts to drag Iran into a regional confrontation, noting that it will destabilize a region that is already at a boiling point. He stressed that “the key to de-escalation is an end to the bloodshed in Gaza”.
The representative of Iran condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, who was in Teheran on official invitation to attend the inauguration of the country’s new President,
Speaking at the UNSC Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani “This crime is not isolated,” he said, adding that it is part of a broader pattern of aggression against countries of the region.
Stating that Iran has exercised maximum restraint, he said certain countries, particularly the United States, have shielded Israel from any responsibility for the massacre in Gaza and other malicious activities in the region.
The Council must hold Israel accountable, including by considering the imposition of sanctions, and otherr measures, Iravani said.
Iran, he added, “reserves its inherent right to self-defence, in accordance with international law to respond decisively to this terrorist and criminal act when it deems necessary and appropriate”.
US representative Wood said Washington was not involved with Israel’s strike on the Hezbollah leader and was not aware of or involved in the targeting of the Hamas official, saying that “we have no independent confirmation as to Hamas’ claims regarding his death.”
He said the United States would continue to lead diplomatic efforts to end the war in Gaza, reduce regional tensions and prevent a wider war.
“A broader war is neither imminent nor inevitable, although the opportunistic attacks by Iran and its network of terrorist proxies and partners across the region have repeatedly brought us closer to a regional conflict,” Wood said, adding that Israel has a right to defend itself.
Israeli envoy to the UNSC said, “We’ll respond with great force against those who harm us.”
The representative of Israel, Jonathan Miller, said the UNSC meeting has been called for by “the number one sponsor of terrorism”, responsible for the most horrifying barbarism across the region— Iran. “Tehran has used its proxies — Hamas and Hizbullah — to target Israel and its citizens from every direction,” the Israeli envoy said.
The representative of Lebanon Hadi Hachem said that Israel’s aggression had reached “our capital, Beirut”. The culprit is the Government of Israel and its Prime Minister and the victim is “your ceasefire resolution”.
“Lebanon and its people do not want war,” he said,” Hachem said. (ANI)