UNITED NATIONS: In a starkly worded statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said he is “gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today (Saturday).”
“This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge — and a direct threat to international peace and security,” the UN chief said in a post on X.
Earlier, multiple news outlets said the U.S. military struck three nuclear sites in Iran early Sunday, directly joining Israel ’s war aimed at decapitating the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme.
The decision to directly involve the U.S. comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country’s air defences and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities.
But U.S. and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and a 30,000-pound bunker buster bomb they alone can carry could destroy the heavily-fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear programme buried deep underground.
President Donald Trump was the first to disclose the strikes. There was no immediate acknowledgment from the Iranian government. But Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that attacks targeted the country’s Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites. The agency did not elaborate.
In his statement, the UN secretary-general also warned of the risk of the conflict quickly getting “out of control — with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”
Guterres urged U.N. member nations to “de-escalate and to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter and other rules of international law.”
“At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos,” he said.
“There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace,” the UN chief added.e.
In an address from the White House, Trump said Iran must make peace or future attacks will be “far greater”
He called the strikes on Fordo and two other nuclear sites a “spectacular military success”
“Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” Trump said in an address to the nation from the East Room of the White House.
His announcement came shortly after the president said he would wait before making a decision about U.S. involvement.
“A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors.
There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Iranian state media says part of the Fordo site was “attacked by enemy strikes”, however authorities are yet to confirm the extent of damage.
