New York, 22 June 2025 – The United Nations Security Council held an emergency session at which UN leaders and council members called for intensifying diplomatic efforts to end the escalating exchanges of deadly missiles between Israel and Iran one day after the US bombed Iran’s nuclear plants.

The 15 members of the Security Council, whose decisions are binding on UN members, were called to the meeting while peace negotiations have begun to prevent the Israel-Iran conflict from spreading in the Middle East region. The United Kingdom is holding talks with Iran, Germany and France to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council that he had been condemning any military escalation in the Middle East and his most recent call to give peace a chance was not heeded after the US said it had “totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.

“The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction,” Guterres said. “And yet, we now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.

To avoid it, diplomacy must prevail.”

“We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear program.  We need a credible, comprehensive and verifiable solution – one that restores trust – including with full access to inspectors of the IAEA, as the United Nations technical authority in this field. “

Guterres said the Non-Proliferation Treaty is a cornerstone of international peace and security and he urged Iran to respect it.

“The United Nations stands ready to support any and all efforts toward a peaceful resolution,” he said. “But peace cannot be imposed – it must be chosen. I urge this Council – and all Member States – to act with reason, restraint, and urgency.

We cannot – and must not – give up on peace. “

Miroslav Jenca, the UN Assistant Secretary General on threats to international peace and security quoted the Iranian state media as saying that the three nuclear sites had been evacuated before the US bomb attacks and that the highly enriched uranium stockpile was transferred in advance. 

“Iran has said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination at the three locations following the strikes,” Jenca said. He also said that he had urged Iran to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to conduct damage assessments of the bombed facilities.

Hostilities between Israel and Iran exploded on June 13 and according to Iran’s Ministry of Health 430 people have been killed and more than 3,500 others injured due to Israeli strikes across Iran as of June 21, Jenca said. He said, according to Israel authorities, that 25 Israelis have been killed and 1,300 more have been injured since the beginning of exchanges with Iran.

“I reiterate the Secretary-General’s grave alarm over the use of force by the United States against Iran,” Jenca said. “This latest development must be viewed with the utmost seriousness.  It marks a dangerous escalation in a conflict that has already devastated many lives in both countries, in a region on the edge. It is a direct threat to international peace and security.”

Jenca said Iran’s parliament “unanimously expressed support for measures to close the Strait of Hormuz – a vital maritime route for global energy transit.  Iran’s Supreme National Security Council would need to take the final decision.”

The IAEA said in a statement on June 22 that there was no sign of any health-impacting radiation resulting from the US strikes beyond the three Iranian sites targeted, citing Iranian nuclear energy authorities.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the sites had all contained enriched uranium verified by IAEA inspectors “to different levels” and confirmed that “radioactive and chemical contamination” may have occurred inside the facilities hit, UN news reported.

“In view of the increasingly serious situation in terms of nuclear safety and security, the Board of Governors will meet in an extraordinary session tomorrow, which I will address,” Mr. Grossi said.

“As of this time, we don’t expect that there will be any health consequences for people or the environment outside the targeted sites,” he added.

US Ambassador Dorothy Shea, the acting representative of the US to the United Nations, said in her address the council: “This operation sought to eliminate a long standing but rapidly escalating source of global insecurity and to aid our ally Israel in our inherent right of collective self-defence, consistent with the UN Charter.”

“The time finally came for the United States in the defence of its ally and in the defence of our own citizens and interests, to act decisively. As President Trump said any Iranian attack direct or indirect against Americans or American bases will be met with devastating retaliation.”  

Ambassador Joonkook Hwang of South Korea said. “Despite the deeply concerning developments in recent days, the Republic of Korea remains firmly convinced that no sustainable resolution to this crisis can be achieved through military means alone.”

“Indeed, now more than ever we implore all parties to recognize that diplomacy is not merely an option but an urgent necessity.  We call on all sides to exercise maximum restraint and to commit, in earnest, to restoring dialogue and engaging in reinvigorated diplomatic efforts.” 

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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