UN chief warns of ‘descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tells an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called by Iran that “we cannot – and must not – give up on peace.”

“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling,” he says. “We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”

He urges immediate and decisive action to halt the fighting and return to “serious, sustained negotiations” on Iran’s nuclear program to find a verifiable solution with full access by UN nuclear inspectors and a restoration of trust.

In urging a return to diplomacy and a peaceful solution, Guterres stresses Sunday that one path leads to wider war and the other to de-escalation and dialogue. “We know which path is right,” he says.