GENEVA: Pakistan has on Friday urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) emergency session to urgently intervene and facilitate a peaceful resolution of intensifying Iran-Israel conflict.
“This is a pivotal moment,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said in the debate, urging the Council to fulfil its responsibility by promoting dialogue and diplomacy in line with the UN Charter to prevent further regional instability.
The emergency session was convened by Guyana — which holds the Council’s presidency for June — and supported by Pakistan among others amid the ongoing war between Iran and Israel.
Since Friday, Israel has launched large-scale strikes on Iran, targeting military bases, nuclear sites and residential areas across the country.
The attacks have killed at least 224 people in the Islamic republic, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. Iran retaliated with barrages of drones and missiles that have killed at least 25 people in Israel, according to the authorities.
Iran does not recognise Israel and has long accused it of carrying out sabotage operations against its nuclear facilities, as well as assassinating its scientists.
Ambassador Asim, in today’s debate, said that continued deadly Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and other targets have “aggravated” regional tensions and threatened peace and security.
“Dialogue and diplomacy in full adherence to the principles of international law and the UN Charter, remain the only viable path to resolving the crisis,” he said, adding: “Military means and coercion cannot bring about a lasting settlement.”
Regrettably, he said, Israeli unlawful strikes against Iran came at a time of intense diplomatic engagement on Iran’s nuclear issue, underscoring that these illegal actions must not be allowed to scuttle that dialogue.
“Parties must swiftly return to the path of negotiations, which is the only viable means to reach a sustainable agreement regarding the Iranian nuclear programme,” the Pakistani envoy said, noting the United States’ willingness to keep the door for negotiations open.
“We hope that the diplomatic efforts and engagements will bear fruit.”
At the outset, the Pakistani envoy condemned the Israeli strikes which began on 13 June and said that these strikes violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran. “Pakistan strongly condemns the unjustified and illegitimate aggression by Israel. We stand in solidarity with the people of Iran,” he said.
“We offer our sincere condolences and sympathies to the brotherly people of Iran on the loss of life as a result of these unprovoked attacks,” he said, adding that the ensuing humanitarian and civilian toll is “deplorable”.
“The latest crisis has aggravated the existing tensions in the region arising from Israel’s continuing ruthless assault on Gaza, that has resulted in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe for the innocent Palestinians, as well as its recurring violations of international law in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen,” he added.
The attacks against nuclear facilities for peaceful purposes contravene international law, the charter of the UN, the Statute of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and relevant IAEA General Conference resolutions on the issue, he said.
During the debate, Ambassador Iftikhar called on the Council to categorically reject and condemn Israel’s attacks on Iran since June 13; Play its due role to end the hostilities and promote de-escalation for achieving a comprehensive ceasefire before the situation spirals out of control and threatens the peace and stability of the entire region; clearly denounce the targeting of IAEA-safeguarded nuclear facilities; and call for dialogue and diplomacy to promote peaceful settlement.
“Diplomacy must be given a chance,” the Pakistani envoy concluded.
‘Give peace a chance’
Opening the debate, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that expansion of the Iran-Israel conflict could “ignite a fire no one can control” and called on both sides and potential parties to the conflict to “give peace a chance.”
Representatives from Israel and Iran later traded angry accusations at the same UN Security Council meeting, with Israel vowing not to stop its attacks.
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, meanwhile, warned that attacks on nuclear facilities could result in “radioactive releases with great consequences within and beyond boundaries” of the state attacked and called for maximum restraint.
Guterres said there were “moments when the directions taken will shape not just the fate of nations, but potentially our collective future”.
“This is such a moment,” he said, adding that the conflict must not be allowed to expand.
“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.
The Security Council session took place as European foreign ministers met their Iranian counterpart on Friday hoping to test Tehran’s readiness to negotiate a new nuclear deal despite there being scant prospect of Israel ceasing its attacks soon.
Israel has repeatedly bombed nuclear targets in Iran, which it sees as components of a weapons program, and Iran has fired missiles and drones at Israel as a week-old air war escalated with no sign yet of an exit strategy from either side.
The White House said on Thursday US President Donald Trump would make a decision within the next two weeks whether to get involved on Israel’s side.
Iran says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes. It said on Friday it would not discuss the future of the programme while under attack by Israel, which is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. Israel neither confirms nor denies this.
Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said Iran would continue to defend itself from Israeli attacks, while his Israeli counterpart Danny Danon vowed: “We will not stop. Not until Iran’s nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed, not until our people and yours are safe.”
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Camille Shea, said the United States “continues to stand with Israel and supports its actions against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
“We can no longer ignore that Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon,” she said.
China and Russia demanded immediate de-escalation.
Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, said Israel’s actions risked pulling third countries into the conflict and internationalisation of the conflict must be avoided.
He said targeting what he called Iran’s peaceful civilian nuclear facilities was “liable to plunge us into a hither to unseen nuclear catastrophe.”
— With additional input from Reuters
