UNSC divided over US-Israeli war on Iran

Russia, China urge halt to US-Israeli strikes on Iran; US backs Gulf allies

NEW YORK:

UN Security Council members clashed on Thursday over ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with Russia and China calling for an immediate halt to US and Israeli strikes on Iran, while Washington reaffirmed support for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.

Russia's UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia accused Western countries of fuelling instability in the region. "The current conflict did not occur in a vacuum," he said, adding: "it was the direct result of an unprovoked act of aggression by the US and Israel against the sovereign territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Nebenzia urged a political solution to the ongoing crisis. "It's time to stop and put an end to this dangerous game of playing with fire, which risks turning into a full-scale and not just a regional conflagration," he warned.

China's envoy Fu Cong echoed those concerns. "The origin of this war lies in the use of force by the US and Israel against Iran, which clearly violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations."

Fu added that Beijing does not support Iranian strikes on Arab states, stating that China "does not go along with Iran's attacks against the GCC states and condemns all indiscriminate attacks against civilians and non-military targets."

Warning against authorising military force through the UNSC, he stressed that doing so "would amount to legitimising the unlawful and indiscriminate use of force, which would inevitably lead to further escalation."

US envoy Mike Waltz pushed back, defending Washington's role and criticising Tehran. "No country, certainly not a genocidal Iranian regime that massacres its own people and has spent decades sowing instability and violence around the world," he said.

"No country should be able to hold the world's economies hostage to try to gain leverage in a dispute," he added. Calling for concrete support for Gulf states, he said that partners "can count on the United States to march alongside you for a better future, both here at this Council and in the region."