The Middle East needs to “come back from the brink”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum restraint as he addressed an emergency Security Council meeting on Sunday to discuss the situation following Iran’s attack on Israel. The Middle East, he said, needs to “come back from the brink of the abyss.”

Residents of the region faced the real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time for détente and de-escalation, Guterres said.

He also stated the need for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of all hostages held by Hamas and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. “Neither the region nor the world can afford an even bigger war,” Guterres concluded. The radical Palestinian group Hamas is recognized as terrorist in the US and EU.

The UN Secretary-General reminded member countries of the organization that acts of retaliation using force are prohibited by international law.

Israel’s permanent representative to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said Iran must be stopped before it “brings the world to the point of no return, to a regional war that could escalate into a global war.” conveys CNN.

On Sunday evening, a meeting of the Israeli military cabinet ended, which lasted several hours. However, according to Western and Israeli media sources, a final decision on how Israel will respond to Iran’s attack has not yet been made.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that further Israeli responses to the Iranian attack were inappropriate and that the US would not take part in them.

Iran’s UN representative Amir Saeed Iravani said Tehran was exercising its inalienable right to self-defense and had “no choice but to act.” At the same time, Irvani noted that his country does not seek escalation or war, but is ready to respond to any threat or aggression.

• On the night of April 14, Iran launched a massive attack on Israel with drones and missiles. Israel Defense Forces reported, that 99% of all missiles and drones – more than three hundred in total – were shot down, most of them outside Israeli territory. There was minor damage inflicted one military base in the Negev desert. There were no casualties, several people were injured.
• Iran says the strike was in response to a suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, and claims that it has achieved the objectives of the operation and is not seeking to further escalate the conflict, but is ready to launch new, more powerful strikes in the event of Israeli strikes on Iranian territory .