United Nations:

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned the worldwide group Sunday in opposition to deeper descent into battle, addressing the Security Council throughout a gathering over Iran’s weekend assault on Israel. 

“Neither the region nor the world can afford more war,” Guterres mentioned. 

“The Middle East is on the brink,” he instructed the Security Council. 

“The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate,” he added, calling for “maximum restraint.”

Late on Saturday, Iran launched a direct assault on its long-time arch foe Israel for the primary time, firing a wave of greater than 300 missiles and drones.

Nearly all of them had been intercepted by Israel and others, together with the United States, Jordan and Britain. 

According to the Israeli military, 12 individuals had been injured. 

Iran mentioned its assault got here in response to a lethal April 1 air strike on Tehran’s consulate constructing within the Syrian capital Damascus that was extensively blamed on Israel.

That assault killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards, together with two senior generals, and prompted Iranian threats of retaliation.

The unprecedented change, marking a serious escalation between the 2 international locations, has sparked renewed fears of a broader battle, together with the potential for an Israel counterstrike. 

– ‘Step again from the brink’ –

The United States mentioned Sunday it is not going to be part of any Israeli counterattack on Iran, with President Joe Biden warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “think carefully” about any escalation.

The rising tensions come in opposition to the backdrop of Israel’s six-month-old warfare in opposition to Hamas in Gaza, which started after the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented assault in Israel October 7 which resulted within the deaths of 1,170 individuals, principally civilians, in keeping with an AFP tally primarily based on Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at the very least 33,729 individuals in Gaza, principally girls and kids, in keeping with the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry.

Since the beginning of the battle, Iran-backed teams in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen have carried out a flurry of assaults on Israeli and Western targets. 

Sunday’s Security Council assembly to handle the simmering disaster got here at Israel’s request. 

During his speech, Guterres repeated his condemnation of Iran’s strikes on Israel, and the Israeli assault on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. 

“It’s time to step back from the brink. It is vital to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East,” Guterres mentioned. 

He additionally repeated his name for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, which specialists warn is on the verge of famine. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)