UNSC members slam Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader
Members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemned Israel’s assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, while permanent representatives the US, UK, and France raised what they claimed was Iranian support for destabilizing actors in the region. The UNSC convened for an emergency session at the request of Iran on Wednesday evening, hours after Haniyeh was killed in an attack on his residence in the Iranian capital, where he had attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian a day earlier.
Chinese ambassador Fu Cong strongly called the incident a “blatant attempt to sabotage peace efforts.”
Violation of Iran’s
sovereignty
Algeria’s envoy Amar Bendjama described Israel’s attack was an “act of terror” that violated international law and Iran’s sovereignty, pushing the world to “the precipice of catastrophe.”
“This is not merely an attack on one man. It is a vicious assault on the very foundations of diplomatic relations, the sanctity of state sovereignty and the principles that underpin our global order,” Bendjama said.
Serious blow to cease-fire
Russian representative Dmitry Polyansky repeated his country’s condemnation of Haniyeh’s assassination, saying that the repercussions of the attack was “dangerous” for the entire region. “This is a serious blow, primarily to mediation negotiations between Hamas and Israel focused on a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip,” Polyansky said.
He warned that Israel’s “heinous practice of targeted assassination of high-profile political and military figures” was bringing the Middle East to the brink of a “region-wide war.”
US, UK defend Israel
During the session, US and UK envoys defended Israel with US envoy Robert Wood saying that Israel had a right to defend itself against “attacks from Lebanon’s Hezbollah and “other terrorists.”
Wood called on the high body to consider additional measures against what he termed actions that threaten regional peace and security. He also said that the US had no connection to Haniyeh’s assassination.
Wood accused Iran and resistance groups of triggering the risk of regional conflict but noted that a “broader war is neither imminent nor inevitable.”
British UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward emphasized that increasing violence was in no one’s interest.
“Long-term peace will not be secured by bombs and bullets,” Woodward said.
She also reaffirmed the UK’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, saying that Israel had the right to self-defense.
Iran’s caution
In his address to the emergency meeting, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Amir-Saeed Iravani warned of attempts by Israel to expand the scope of its aggression against the Gaza Strip to the entire region.
“The warmongering leaders of this rogue regime have shown complete disregard for the basic norms and principles of international law,” Iravani stressed.
He stressed that the United States, as a strategic ally of the regime and its main supporter, was also responsible for the Israeli crime.
“This act could not have occurred without the authorization and intelligence support of the US,” Iravani said.
Reuters, Press TV and Anadolu Agency contributed to this story.