U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres swiftly condemned President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program as a “dangerous escalation” and a “direct threat to international peace and security.”
Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran.”
“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” he said.
Guterres 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, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos,” he said. “There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace.”
The United Nations failed to halt Iran’s relentless march toward nuclear weapons over the past few years, doing little more than complaining as Tehran accumulated a huge stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium and refused to answer questions from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about traces of uranium found at undeclared nuclear sites.
Following the latest disturbing report about Iran’s activities, the IAEA board of governors last week declared Iran to be in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for the first time in almost 20 years. Israel’s military operation against Iran’s nuclear program began the following day.
Earlier on Saturday, the U.N. issued a joint call from several agencies for Israel and Iran to de-escalate. UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, said Israel’s airstrikes and Iran’s missile attacks were causing civilians to flee their homes.
“This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss, and displacement – we cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root. The time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there’s no quick way back – and all too often, the consequences last for generations,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
The IAEA also contributed to the statement, with Director General Rafael Grossi warning that Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities could threaten public safety.
Grossi claimed his agency was very familiar with the Isfahan site – one of the three destroyed by U.S. airstrikes on Saturday – and was confident there was “no nuclear material at this site,” so “the attack on it will have no radiological consequences.”
Read the full article here