UN Secretary General António Guterres condemns Iran attack after Israeli ban

The United Nations Secretary-General has condemned Iran’s attacks on Israel after being previously banned from the country for his initial response.

In a speech to the UN Security Council, António Guterres said it was high time to stop the “deadly vicious cycle of mutual violence” in the Middle East.

In an earlier statement, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared Guterres persona non grata and an “anti-Israel secretary general who supports terrorists.”

The comments were made in response to Guterres initially calling for a ceasefire but not specifically mentioning the Iran attack.

In his address to the Council, the UN Secretary-General said he had condemned the attack in April and “as should have been clear yesterday in the context of the condemnation I expressed, I once again strongly condemn yesterday’s massive missile attack by Iran on Israel.” .”

“These attacks paradoxically appear to neither support the cause of the Palestinian people nor alleviate their suffering,” he said.

He also criticized Israel’s actions in the region, calling the military campaign in Gaza “the deadliest and most destructive military campaign in my years as secretary general.”

On Tuesday, Iran fired about 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of which Israel said were intercepted.

In a statement following the attack on the social media site X, formerly Twitter, Guterres said he condemned “the expansion of the Middle East conflict with one escalation after another.”

Ahead of Guterre’s remarks to the U.N. Security Council, Katz said in a statement that anyone who “cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil.”

He particularly criticized Guterres for “his anti-Israel policies since the beginning of the war.”

Iran’s attack on Tuesday is the latest in a series of escalations that began nearly a year ago with Hamas attacks on Israel and recently led to increased fighting between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.

In response to the unprecedented attack on southern Israel by Hamas gunmen on October 7, Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

A total of 41,689 people have been killed in a military operation in Gaza since the attack, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

During the course of the conflict, there were several clashes between Israel and the United Nations over the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

There have also been tensions between Israel and the United Nations over the role of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

In January, Israel claimed that several agency employees were involved in the October 7 attacks.

In response, the agency launched an investigation – some of its international donors withdrew their support before later reinstating it. Nine employees were laid off in August about possible involvement in the attacks.

During the conflict, UNRWA has criticized Israel for airstrikes in Gaza who killed their employees.