Tough clash at the UN between Israel and Iran in the extraordinary meeting of the Security Council convened after the attack in Tehran on Saturday night, while the secretary general of the United Nations warned that the Middle East is "on the brink of the abyss".
"The Iranian regime is no different from the Third Reich and Ayatollah Ali Khamanei is no different from Hitler", thundered the delegate of the Jewish State at the Glass Palace, Gilad Erdan, calling for "all possible sanctions" against the Islamic Republic. “The fact that Israel showed itself superior does not take away the brutality of the attack,” added the Israeli ambassador. For his part, his Iranian colleague, Saed Iravani, asked the Council to "adopt immediate punitive measures against Israel", which only wants to "commit further atrocious crimes without respect for international laws".
Iravani reiterated that Tehran "had no choice but to exercise its right to self-defense", assuring that his country does not want an increase in tension or "a war with the United States" but will respond to "any threat or aggression" . The US has also raised the specter of new sanctions: "In the coming days we will discuss with our partners new punitive measures to hold Iran accountable in accordance with Security Council resolutions", said US ambassador Robert Wood, alluding to the possibility of presenting a draft resolution with new restrictive measures against Tehran, and reiterating that the US "does not want an escalation".
A dramatic warning on the risk of a wider conflict in the region was that of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres: "The Middle East is on the brink of the abyss - he warned - The population is facing the real danger of a devastating large-scale conflict. Now is the time for de-escalation, for maximum restraint, and for stepping back from the brink." Specifying that "we have a shared responsibility to actively involve all interested parties to prevent further escalation", since "neither the region nor the world can afford more wars".