Middle East
A wide view of the Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security on February 5. 2024. Photo: Evan Schneider/UN
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Nations Security Council on Monday held an urgent meeting, requested by Russia, discussing the potential spillover of the Israel-Gaza war to the rest of the region, including the recent United States strikes which targeted Iran-affiliated militias in Iraq and Syria.
In the late hours of Friday, the US launched a major retaliation campaign against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and Iran-aligned militias in Iraq and Syria, striking more than 85 targets with over 125 precision munitions.
Abbas al-Fatlawi, Iraq’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, reiterated Baghdad’s strong condemnation of the US attacks, labeling them as a dangerous escalation to Iraq’s security and sovereignty.
Iraq follows a balanced foreign policy and has been trying to become a factor of stability and peace in the region, said Fatlawi, adding that Baghdad “will not be dragged into the arena of conflict” taking place in the Middle East.
Robert Wood, the US ambassador and deputy permanent representative to the UN, said the retaliatory strikes were “necessary and proportional,” adding that they were carried out in exercise of Washington’s right to self-defense, as laid out in Article 51 of the UN charter.
Wood said that attacks targeting American personnel in Iraq and Syria “cannot continue,” stressing that Friday’s strikes were only the start of Washington’s response to the deadly drone attack on a military base in northeast Jordan.
“Let me be clear, the US does not desire more conflict in the region when we are actively working to contain and deescalate the conflict in Gaza, and we are not seeking a direct conflict with Iran,” said the American envoy.
The US airstrikes were in retaliation to the deaths of three American soldiers in a drone attack in Jordan last week. The attack has been blamed on Iran-affiliated Iraqi militia groups who have carried out some 165 such assaults on US interests in Iraq and Syria since October in protest over US support for Israel in its war on Gaza.
Syria’s UN Ambassador Koussay Aldahhak accused Washington of continuing to use the “same flimsy pretexts and misleading claims” to justify its attacks, including the “distorted and wrongful interpretation” of Article 51.
The US’ “wrongful and destructive policies,” including its unwavering support for Israel in its war on Gaza, are root causes of conflict and instability in the Middle East, said Aldahhak.
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's permanent representative to the UN, also condemned the US attacks, saying they violated the principles of the UN charter.
The envoy claimed that Tehran has never sought a spillover to the war in Gaza, accusing Washington of falsely blaming Iran for its attacks to divert attention away from the conflict in the Middle East.
“It is evident to everyone that the root causes in the region are occupation, aggression and continued genocide and horrific atrocities committed by Israeli regime, and fully supported by the US, against innocent Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank,” he added.
The Chinese and Russian envoys also warned that the US strikes would escalate tensions in the Middle East, while the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the UN Barbara Woodward reiterated her country’s full support for the US’ right to self-defense and right to respond to attacks on its bases.
"It is clear that the US strikes are specifically and deliberately designed to inflame the conflict,” Vasily Nebenzya, Russia's ambassador to the UN, stated.
The US strikes killed at least 16 people and injured 25 more in Iraq’s western Anbar province, near the Syrian border, announced the Iraqi government. At least 23 pro-Iran fighters were killed in Syria, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.
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