UN Secretary-General António Guterres on 2 April called for an end to the “spiral of death and destruction” in the Middle East – amid US and Iranian claims of intensifying attacks.
“We are on the verge of an expanding war that will engulf the entire Middle East and have dramatic consequences for the entire world,” he told reporters in New York.
Guterres noted the danger of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has virtually halted shipping, leading to a global energy crisis.
“When the Strait of Hormuz is blocked, the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people cannot breathe,” the UN secretary-general said.
US President Donald Trump issued a warning to Iran the previous day that it must “make a deal” before there is “nothing left of the country”.
The United States handed Iran a 15-point peace plan in March. Tehran said it rejected the U.S. plan, calling it “unrealistic, illogical and excessive.”
The joint United States-Israeli operation against Iran, which began on 28 February, resulted in the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a significant number of other senior Iranian regime officials.
In response, Iran’s military has attacked not only Israel or US military installations in the region with missiles and drones, but also many of its regional neighbours, which Tehran considers allies of the United States. In addition, Iran has blocked a key sea route, the Strait of Hormuz.