A U.N. official called on “all parties to step back from the brink.”
United Nations:
Russia and China accused the United States at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday of exacerbating already high tensions in the Middle East with recent retaliatory attacks against Iranian-backed groups in Iraq and Syria.
The U.S. military struck dozens of targets overnight in Syria and Iraq from Friday to Saturday in retaliation for a Jan. 28 drone attack on a Jordanian base that killed three U.S. soldiers.
The attacks against elite Iranian forces and pro-Iran militant groups have raised concerns that the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip could escalate into a regional conflict.
“It is clear that the US air strikes were specifically and deliberately intended to provoke conflict,” Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said as Russia called for an emergency meeting.
Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun also claimed that “the actions of the United States will inevitably exacerbate the vicious cycle of tit-for-tat violence in the Middle East.”
Israel’s destructive campaign in Gaza, which began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, has fueled growing anger across the Middle East, triggering violence by Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
A U.N. official called on “all parties to step back from the brink and consider the unbearable human and economic costs of a potential regional conflict.”
“I call on the Security Council to continue to actively engage with all parties involved to prevent further escalation and deterioration of tensions that could undermine regional peace and security,” said Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
The U.S. strikes have drawn criticism from the Iraqi and Syrian governments as well as Iran, which denies any involvement in last month’s drone strikes.
“Any attempt to blame Iran or its armed forces for these actions is misleading, baseless and unacceptable,” Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeed Irani told the Security Council on Monday.
He pledged that if Iran faced “any threat, attack or aggression affecting its security,” it would “not hesitate to exercise its inherent rights… to respond resolutely.”
The White House said on Sunday it planned more retaliatory actions.
“Let me be clear, as we work aggressively to contain and de-escalate conflict in Gaza, the United States does not want more conflict in the region,” Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said.
He added: “We are not seeking direct conflict with Iran, but we will continue to protect our personnel from unacceptable attacks. Period.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in
