At UN, US calls for pressuring Iran ‘to stop escalating its proxy conflict against Israel, others’

UN Security Council countries on Wednesday call for stepped-up diplomatic efforts to avert a wider Middle East conflict, during the emergency meeting called after the killings of two terror leaders raised tensions.

China, Russia, Algeria and others condemn the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which Iran’s UN ambassador calls an act of terrorism, while the US, UK and France raise what they say is Iranian support for destabilizing actors in the region.

Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, urges members of the Security Council with influence over Iran “to increase pressure on it to stop escalating its proxy conflict against Israel and other actors.”

Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani claims Tehran has consistently exercised maximum restraint but reserves its right to respond decisively. He calls on the Security Council to condemn Israel and punish it with sanctions.

Israel’s deputy representative to the UN, Jonathan Miller, calls on the Security Council to condemn Iran for support of regional terrorism and increase sanctions on Tehran.

“We will defend ourselves and respond with great force against those who harm us,” Miller says, calling on the world to support Israel.