The UNSC meeting went as expected. UN wants to de-escalate, Israel wants to form a coalition to take on Iran, US wants actions but not be involved in them.
Israel's classic projection
Israel’s ambassador compares Iran with Nazis
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, says: “From the moment I began my tenure here, in every speech and in countless letters, I rang the warning bell regarding Iran.
“I called on this council to take concrete action against the Ayatollah regime. I made it clear that Iran and its hegemonic ambitions of global domination must be stopped before it drives the world to a point of no return, to a regional war that can escalate to a world war.
“Last night, the world witnessed an unprecedented escalation that serves as the clearest proof for what happens when warnings aren’t heeded.” He then said that Iran’s goal “has been and continues to be world domination by exporting its radical [Shia] revolution across the globe”.
“The Islamic regime of today is no different from the Third Reich and Khamenei is no different from Adolf Hitler,” he added.
Israel makes three demands at UNSC
In his pretty long speech, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, had a lot of hyperbole in there but when it got down to what Israel really wants to see, it came down to three things:
There was a strong condemnation that Israel hopes the Security Council will issue against Iran.
Israel is expecting the UN to impose more sanctions and the Israeli ambassador says [JCPOA nuclear deal measures] should be implemented immediately.
And then he also wants the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] to be tagged as a “terrorist organisation”.
But I think it was the sanctions that Israel was really looking for here and we’ll have to see if that comes about. [Essentially], Israel has laid out the case that they are the victims here and Iran – in their view – is the one spreading “terror”; not only, in their view, in Israel but in other parts of the world and region as well.
UN has obligation to not let Iran’s actions go unanswered: US deputy ambassador to UN
It’s the US’s turn to speak at the UN Security Council, and deputy ambassador to the UN Robert Wood takes the opportunity to criticise Iran for its attack on Israel, as well as its actions in the wider region.
He says that the US will explore additional measures to hold Iran accountable at the UN, and says that Iran will be held responsible for any further actions it takes. He adds that an unequivocal condemnation of Iran is needed from the UN Security Council.
US rules out joining Israeli counterattack on Iran
A senior US official has confirmed that Biden told the Israeli prime minister Washington would not offer military support for any retaliation against Iran’s attack, according to the AFP news agency.
“We would not be a part of any response they do,” the unnamed official told was quoted as saying. “We would not envision ourselves participating in such an act.”
Sorry, but Iran is not the aggressor here
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/4/14/sorry-but-iran-is-not-the-aggressor-here
Al Jazeera columnist Belen Fernandez argues, “In light of the unceasing slaughter in Gaza … the Western response to the intercepted Iranian missiles and drones is sickeningly cynical.”
US, UK, France have shown ‘hypocritical behaviour’: Iran’s ambassador
Iran’s ambassadoe to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, said, “In response to the Israeli regime’s recurring military aggression, particularly its armed attack on April 1 2024 against Iranian diplomatic premises” and in line with the second article of the UN charter, the Iranian military “carried out a series of military strikes on Israeli military objectives” using missiles and drones.
The operation, he said, “was entirely in the exercise of Iran’s inherent right to self-defence”.
He then highlighted the US, UK and France as having chosen “to turn a blind eye to reality and overlook the root causes contributing to the current situation”. “In hypocritical behaviour, these three countries falsely blamed and accused Iran without considering their own failures: to uphold the international commitment to peace and security in the region.
“They made unsuccessful attempts to use lies, manipulate the narrative, spread disinformation and engage in a destructive blame game. “For over six months now, these countries, especially the United States, have shielded Israel from any responsibility for the Gaza massacre.
“While they have denied Iran the inherent right to self-defence against the Israeli armed attack on our diplomatic premises, at the same time, they shamefully justified a massacre and genocide against the defenceless Palestinian people”.
Israel not going to get a UNSC statement of condemnation
Israel was certainly hoping there would be condemnation [of Iran’s attacks] but it appears that there will not be a statement from the Security Council. The council operates with consensus and clearly, they did not have consensus on this.
That will not sit well with the Israelis but I should point out that after the April 1 Israeli attack on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Damascus, Russia and Algeria, and other Security Council members, also asked for a statement of condemnation and that did not happen either, mostly blocked by the United States, France and the UK.
So where are we at? We’re back to the point of everyone calling for restraint and where all council members – and this is where we have some sort of unanimity… on opinions – calling for no escalation.
And clearly, the ball now is in Israel’s court because Iran has said they consider this matter over at this point.
Israeli cabinet wants response to Iran attack, is divided over timing and scale: Reports
Israeli officials say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet favours a retaliation against Iran for its mass drone and missile attack, but is divided over the timing and scale of any such response, according to Israeli media reports.
The five-member cabinet, in which Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz have decision-making powers, met on Sunday and was expected to convene again for further discussions.
The Times of Israel, citing multiple Hebrew media outlets, reported that Gantz and his political ally Gadi Eisenkot, an observer in the war cabinet, suggested retaliating, even during Iran’s attack. Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Gallant, Army Chief Herzi Halevi and others opposed this idea, in part because the Israeli air force was already deployed to intercept the incoming drones and missiles.
WW3 rests in the hands of Netanyahu....
