Pakistan has called on the UN Security Council, which met in emergency session hours after Israel’s deadly air strikes against targets in Iran, to stop “this aggression immediately” and hold the aggressor accountable.  “This Council must deny Israel the free hand and the impunity with which it continues to operate in defiance of international law and international opinion,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the 15-member Council, while denouncing Tel Aviv’s “unjustified and illegitimate aggression” against Iran. 

“Iran has the right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter,” he said, adding that Israel’s actions in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen “reflect a continuing pattern of unilateral militarism”.  During the debate, the Council’s members largely agreed — that de-escalation and diplomacy are imperative to avoid further strain in a region already groaning under the weight of compounding conflict. 

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi requested the Security Council meeting, saying Israel “has now crossed every red line, and the international community must not allow these crimes to go unpunished.  Among those supporting the request for the Council meeting were Pakistan, China and Russia.  Briefing the Security Council, Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for political affairs told the Council that the repercussions of the attacks were already reverberating. 

“I reaffirm the (UN) Secretary-General’s condemnation of any military escalation in the Middle East,” she said, urging both Israel and Iran to exercise maximum restraint and “avoid at all costs a descent into deeper and wider regional conflict”.  She also noted that the military escalation came just as “some significant diplomatic developments” were unfolding, including the planned resumption of United States-Iranian talks in Oman at the weekend. Latest reports indicate that Iran will no longer attend.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)