“China opposes the intensification of contradictions and the expansion of conflicts, and is deeply concerned about the consequences that may be brought about by Israel’s actions,” China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said.
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China’s permanent representative to the UN Fu Cong, talks to Iran Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani
(Photo: Eduardo Munoz / Reuters)
China was seriously concerned about the negative impact of the current developments on diplomatic negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue, said Fu.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said Israel was pushing the region to a large-scale nuclear catastrophe. “This completely unprovoked attack, no matter what Israel says to the contrary, is a gross violation of the UN Charter and international law,” he said, expressing Russia’s “strong condemnation” of the strikes.
He accused “Western members” of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – of contributing to the current crisis through their policies toward Iran and its nuclear program. “They have been doing everything to fuel the escalation and essentially incited it,” he told ambassadors.
Iran’s UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani accused Israel of seeking “to kill diplomacy, to sabotage negotiations, and to drag the region into wider conflict,” and he said Washington’s complicity was “beyond doubt”.
“Those who support this regime, with the United States at the forefront, must understand that they are complicit,” Iravani told the Security Council. “By aiding and enabling these crimes, they share full responsibility for the consequences.”
Israel’s UN envoy, Danny Danon, accused Iran of taking steps toward building a nuclear arsenal and criticized members of the UN Security Council for failing to act and rein in Tehran. “Israel did not act recklessly – we waited,” he said.
“This was an act of national preservation. It was one we undertook alone, not because we wanted to, but because we were left no other option.”