The UN Security Council met today in a last-minute attempt to stop a general war in the Middle East. The meeting resulted in the two parties threatening retaliation against each other. The meeting had been called after the Iranians launched a major rocket attack on Israel on Oct. 1, in retribution for the Gaza genocide and the new Israeli incursions into Lebanon to decapitate Hezbollah.
“This deadly cycle of tit-for-tat violence must stop,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the 15-member council. “Time is running out.” Guterres has been declared persona non grata by the Israeli government, preventing any travel on his part to Israel.
The two parties then traded accusations. “Israel will defend itself. We will act. And let me assure you, the consequences Iran will face for their actions will be far greater than they could ever have imagined,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the council. The U.S., of course, gave full support to Israel.
Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saied Iravani said the missile attack on Oct. 1 was “to restore balance and deterrence.” He said further escalation could be avoided if Israel stopped the war in Gaza and attacks on Lebanon. But if Israel proceeds to retaliate, he said, “Iran is fully prepared to take further defensive measures, if necessary, to protect its legitimate interests and defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty against any acts of military aggression and the illegal use of force.”
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia praised “Iran, who for two whole months had been showing exceptional (given the circumstances) restraint,” and said: “Our Western colleagues’ statements give the impression that … everything happened ‘in a vacuum.’ As if nothing is occurring or has occurred in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria and Yemen. But it did happen and led to a new and extremely dangerous wave of escalation in the Middle East conflict,” Nebenzia said.
Nebenzia also exposed the hypocrisy of the alleged U.S. peace talks: “Washington has already cast its veto in the Security Council 5 times, and since the beginning of July has been intentionally pulling the wool over our eyes, touting its notorious ‘Biden Plan’ and its ‘quiet diplomacy’ to broker a deal between Hamas and Israel. Frankly speaking, all this gives the impression that Washington is conducting these mediated negotiations with nobody but itself,” he said.
