The United States and Israel clashed with Iran at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Saturday, as the United Nations chief led calls for an immediate halt to attacks by all sides and a return to negotiations to prevent the conflict from spreading further.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the council that everything must be done to prevent an escalation. "The alternative," he warned, "is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability."
Guterres said the US and Israeli airstrikes violated international law, including the UN Charter. He also condemned Iran's retaliatory attacks for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Both the US and Israel have described the strikes as preemptive, aimed at stopping a regime they say poses an existential threat to Israel.
"We are stopping extremism before it becomes unstoppable," Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said. "We will ensure that no radical regime armed with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles can threaten our people or the entire world."
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told the council that Operation Epic Fury, authorized by US President Donald Trump against Iran, was aimed at dismantling the Islamic Republic's missile capabilities, degrading its naval assets, disrupting the machinery that arms proxy militias, and ensuring the regime can never obtain a nuclear weapon.
"Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," he said. "That principle is not a matter of politics. It's a matter of global security. And to that end, the United States is taking lawful actions."
Notably, Waltz's list did not include regime change, even though Trump earlier said Iranians should take over their government once the strikes subside.
"No responsible nation can ignore persistent aggression and violence," Waltz said of Iran.
"Peace is not preserved by appeasing those who threaten it. Peace is preserved through strength in the face of terror," he continued. "History has taught us that the cost of inaction is far greater than the burden of decisive action."
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the UN, told the council that the airstrikes had killed and injured hundreds of Iranian civilians, calling them a war crime and a crime against humanity.
He blasted the UN and the Security Council, its most powerful body, for not heeding Tehran's warnings about what he described as "warmongering statements" by the US in recent weeks, and urged the council to act now.
"The issue before the council is straightforward: whether any member state, including a permanent member of this council, may, through the use of force, coercion or aggression, determine the political future or system of another state or impose control over its affairs," Iravani said.
During his speech, the Iranian diplomat did not mention US President Donald Trump's statement that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in the strikes, although Iranian state media later confirmed his death.
Iran responded to his killing by vowing unprecedented retaliatory attacks, drawing fresh threats from Trump that he would deploy "force that has never been seen before."
American, Iranian envoys have rare direct exchange
In a rare exchange, the US and Iranian ambassadors traded warnings and direct rebukes toward the end of the emergency session, as military aggression between their countries risked spilling into a broader regional war.
After Waltz rejected Iranian claims that the US had violated international law, Iravani asked to speak again to issue a warning: "I advise the representative of the United States to be polite. It will be better for yourself and the country you represent."
Waltz responded immediately, saying, "This representative sits here, in this body, representing a regime that has killed tens of thousands of its own people and imprisoned many more simply for wanting freedom from your tyranny."
Russia's ambassador condemned the US-Israeli airstrikes, while China's ambassador was more measured in his criticism.
"We demand that the United States and Israel immediately cease their aggressive actions," Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. "We insist on the immediate resumption of political and diplomatic settlement efforts based on international law, mutual respect and a balance of interests."
China's UN Ambassador Fu Cong said Beijing was deeply concerned by "the sudden escalation of regional tensions" and supported Russia's call for a return to diplomatic negotiations.
The permanent observer of the 22-nation Arab League, Maged Abdelaziz, suggested Israel was being hypocritical in justifying its military action as an effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Abdelaziz, a former Egyptian ambassador to the UN, noted that Israel has refused to subject its own nuclear facilities to inspection by the UN nuclear watchdog.
