An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council will be held this evening at 10pm Italian time, requested by Israel after last night's attack by Iran.
"I strongly condemn the serious escalation and call for the immediate cessation of these hostilities", said Secretary General Antonio Guterres, saying he was "deeply alarmed by the real danger at a regional level".
"I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid any action that could lead to multi-front military clashes in the Middle East", added Guterres, underlining that "neither the region nor the world can afford another war".