Key Points
- World on course to potential chaos
- IAEA warns against strike on Iran’s Bushehr plant
- UN warns of humanitarian crisis
- Iran vows to defend sovereignty
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday urged all sides to “give peace a chance” in the Iran-Israel conflict, warning that the violence could spiral out of control.
“To the parties to the conflict — the potential parties to the conflict — and to the Security Council as the representative of the international community, I have a simple and clear message: Give peace a chance,” Guterres said, in a veiled reference to the United States, which is considering intervening militarily to support Israel.
Addressing a Security Council session on the war, Guterres said: “We are not drifting toward crisis — we are racing toward it.”
“We are not witnessing isolated incidents — we are on course to potential chaos,” he said.
“The expansion of this conflict could ignite a fire that no one can control. We must not let that happen.”
IAEA warns against strike on Iran’s Bushehr plant
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned Friday that an Israeli strike on Iran’s southern nuclear plant of Bushehr could trigger a regional disaster, adding that radiation had not yet been detected in the conflict.
“Countries of the region have reached out directly to me over the past few hours to express their concerns, and I want to make it absolutely and completely clear — in case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity,” Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council.
Iran-Israel conflict
As deadly missile exchanges between Israel and Iran enter a second week, the United Nations is sounding the alarm over the growing toll on civilians, warning of mass displacement and regional instability.
On Thursday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for “maximum restraint” and reiterated that both Israel and Iran are bound by international humanitarian law.
The current conflict was sparked by Israel’s massive, unprovoked attacks across Iran last Friday.
“The wide-scale, continuing attacks by Israel across Iran, and the missile and drone strikes launched in response by Iran, are inflicting severe human rights and humanitarian impacts on civilians, and risk setting the whole region ablaze,” he said in a statement.
According to Iranian authorities, at least 224 people have been killed, while in Israel, officials report 24 deaths and more than 840 injuries so far.
UK withdraws embassy staff from Tehran
The United Kingdom, on Friday, withdrew its embassy staff from Tehran as the war between Iran and Iran entered in eighth day.
“Due to the current security situation, we have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw our UK staff from Iran. Our embassy continues to operate remotely,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Iran determined to defend its territorial integrity
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Friday said that the country’s armed forces will defend Iran’s Sovereignty and territorial integrity with all might and by all means.
Speaking in Geneva, the top Iranian diplomat said that Iran has been subjected to an aggression that cannot be justified in any way, and the justification for the aggression is equal to complicity.
“We were supposed to meet Americans on June 15 to craft a very promising agreement on our nuclear programme,” says Iranian FM.
Furthermore, he told the UN council that Israel’s attack on nuclear facilities in Iran was a grave war crime.
