A senior official at the United Nations has urged “all parties” to prevent escalating tensions in the Middle East during a meeting of the UN Security Council in which the United States faced accusations from Russia and China of adding fuel to the fire due to its recent retaliatory strikes in Syria and Iraq.
Rosemary DiCarlo, the Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs at the United Nations, stated during the session that “I urge the Council to continue to work intensively with all parties to prevent further escalation and aggravation of tensions that undermine regional peace and security.”
She reiterated the Secretary-General’s call for all parties to step back from the brink and take into account the human and economic cost of an unsustainable regional conflict.
DiCarlo also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for humanitarian reasons and stressed the costly human and economic implications of any potential regional conflict.
The UN official was careful in her address not to blame any party.
Many member states of the UN Security Council expressed similar concerns during the emergency session called by Russia.
Chinese and Russian Accusations
China and Russia accused the United States of adding fuel to the fire in the strikes it carried out on targets in Syria and Iraq in response to an attack that targeted a US base in Jordan on January 28, resulting in the deaths of 3 American military personnel. Washington attributed the responsibility for this attack to an Iranian-backed group, while Tehran distanced itself from it.
During the UN Security Council meeting, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia stated, “It is clear that the US strikes are aimed specifically and intentionally at escalating the conflict” in order to “maintain its dominant position in the world.”
In turn, Chinese representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, stated that “US actions are likely to exacerbate the empty revenge cycle in the Middle East,” accusing Washington of violating the safety of Syrian and Iraqi territories.
The Chinese representative considered that the fundamental reason for the escalation of tensions in the Middle East is the failure to implement a ceasefire in Gaza.
This was the same position expressed by the Algerian representative to the United Nations, Amar Benjamain.
On the contrary, Robert Wood, the Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations, defended the “necessary and proportionate” actions taken by the US in exercising its “right to self-defense.”
Wood said, “The United States does not desire further conflict in the region, where we are working tirelessly to contain the conflict in Gaza and defuse it.”
He added, “We do not seek direct conflict with Iran,” calling on the UN Security Council to pressure Tehran to stop the attacks carried out by its affiliated factions.
Syria, Iraq, and Iran condemned these retaliatory US strikes, which left at least 45 dead.
The Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saïd Eyrani, described the US accusations against his country as “misleading, baseless, and unacceptable.”
Eyrani stated that “Iran has never sought to expand the scope of the conflict in the region,” but “if Iran is threatened, attacked, or assaulted, it will not hesitate to exercise its legitimate right to respond firmly under international law and the United Nations Charter.”
US Attacks
The United States carried out strikes last week against 85 targets in 4 locations in Syria and 3 other locations in Iraq. According to Washington, these strikes targeted sites belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and armed factions loyal to Tehran.
Washington threatened to carry out additional strikes in response to the attack on January 28 against a US military base in Jordan, near the borders with Syria and Iraq.
This comprehensive translation preserves the context and details of the original Arabic news article.
