Iran World Security Council calls for de-escalation in the Middle East
Following the targeted killings of the political leader of the Islamist Hamas in Iran and the highest-ranking military commander of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the UN Security Council is urging all parties to the conflict to de-escalate.
01.08.2024, 05:32
SDA
All actions "that could drive the entire Middle East into the abyss" must be avoided, UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced in New York.
Iran called on the international community to take action against Israel. According to the "New York Times", Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has given the order to attack Israel directly in retaliation for the killing of Hamas foreign leader Ismail Haniya.
Iran and Israel call for international response
The act allegedly carried out by Israel in the Iranian capital Tehran violates international law and "indicates an intention to escalate the conflict and extend the war to the entire region", Iranian UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told the UN Security Council in New York.
Deputy Israeli Ambassador Jonathan Miller said that Iran was destabilizing the entire Middle East by financing proxy groups - in particular the Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and its ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "We therefore call on this Council to condemn Iran for its continued support of regional terrorism and to tighten sanctions against Tehran," said Miller.
According to Hamas, Haniya was killed in an Israeli attack on Wednesday night while he was visiting Tehran. Israel, which is at war with Hamas, has neither confirmed nor denied the killing.
Just hours earlier, Israel's army killed Hezbollah's top military commander in Lebanon, Fuad Shukr, leaving two of the most influential men in the Iranian-led fight against Israel dead. Hamas and Hezbollah, which is considered to be even more powerful, are part of Tehran's self-proclaimed "axis of resistance" in the fight against the Jewish state. The two attacks have therefore increased the danger of an even greater regional war.
Hezbollah has announced a speech by its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah for today. Iran's supreme leader Khamenei has already publicly announced retaliation for the death of Haniya. Khamenei gave the order for a direct attack on Israel at an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning, the "New York Times" reported, citing three Iranian officials allegedly informed of the order. There was initially no confirmation of this. The newspaper's report gave no details on the timing and scope of a possible Iranian retaliatory attack.
Netanyahu: Israel faces "challenging days" ahead
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swore his countrymen in for "challenging days". "We are prepared for every scenario and will stand united against all threats," said Netanyahu after a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet at military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on German citizens in Lebanon to leave the country immediately. The USA also strongly advises Americans not to travel to Israel's northern neighbor.
"Israel will demand a high price for any aggression against us, from any front," said Netanyahu. The war will continue and will demand stamina from Israeli citizens. "Since the beginning of the war, I have declared that we are fighting against the Iranian axis of evil."
Netanyahu is accused by critics in his own country of mainly reacting to attacks and rarely taking the initiative himself. The recent attacks in Beirut and Tehran are seen as an attempt to go on the offensive. They also demonstrate Israel's extensive intelligence and military capabilities. The state, which is surrounded by hostile countries, is also apparently trying to restore its deterrent capability, which has been considered massively damaged since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel's border area on October 7, 2023.
For Iran, it is a severe humiliation and an affront to its security apparatus that Hamas foreign chief Haniya was killed in Tehran while visiting the capital on the occasion of the swearing-in of the new Iranian President Massud Peseshkian. However, the Wall Street Journal quoted an analyst from the International Crisis Group as saying that she did not believe Iran would go to war over the assassination of a Hamas leader. In this context, the expert pointed out that Hezbollah had not gone to war against Israel even after the killing of Saleh al-Aruri, the second highest-ranking Hamas leader abroad, in an explosion in Beirut in January.
USA: No signs of imminent escalation
The US government also remains reassuring. "We do not believe that escalation is inevitable, and there is no indication that escalation is imminent," said National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby. He did not want to simply dismiss the current concerns, but the situation in the region was being monitored "very, very closely".
Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Representative for Political Affairs, told the Security Council: "There is an urgent need for diplomatic efforts to change direction and find a path to regional peace and stability." He added: "Communication by missiles, armed drones and other deadly attacks must end."
When asked what impact the events in Beirut and Tehran could have on the negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, Kirby replied that it was still too early to make an assessment. "It remains complicated, and the reports from the region that we've seen in the last 24 to 48 hours don't make it any less complicated." He did not want to sound too optimistic, Kirby emphasized. "But we still believe that the agreement at hand is worth pursuing." According to the US government, there is still "a viable process" and "interested interlocutors".
