US bombings mark a perilous turn, diplomacy must prevail: UN chief António Guterres

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the special Security Council meeting on Sunday that the people of the Middle East “cannot endure another cycle of destruction, and yet we now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation, and urged nations to return to negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme as “diplomacy must prevail”. He called on all member states to act with “reason, restraint and urgency”.
“Two days ago, in this very chamber, I made a direct appeal give peace a chance. That call was not heeded. Instead, the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already relayed from the outset of the crisis. I have repeatedly condemned any military escalation in the Middle East,” he said.

“The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction, and yet we now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation. To avoid it, diplomacy must prevail,” Guterres told the Security Council.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, said at the Security Council meeting that he had convened a special session of the IAEA’s board of governors in Vienna on Monday to discuss the situation in the Middle East.

He said, “There is a path for diplomacy,” and called on Iran to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme. “Any arrangement will have as a prerequisite the establishment of the facts on the ground. This can be done only with IAEA inspectors,” he said, adding that hostilities must stop for inspection of nuclear sites.

Craters are visible at the Fordow site, Iran’s most critical nuclear site, Grossi said. “At this time, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to assess the underground damage at Fordow. But the damage is consistent with the statements of the US about its attack on the site,” he said.

No radiation reported after strikes: Iran’s Red Crescent Society

The head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society said that no radiation was reported after the US strikes on three major nuclear facilities in Iran.

Eleven people were injured as a result of the strikes, but most have already been released from the hospital.

Earlier, in a news briefing on Sunday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Donald Trump for the US strikes on Iran and said they “inflicted major damage on Fordow”.

He said Israel was “very close” to achieving its goals of removing the nuclear and ballistic threats Iran poses to Israel.