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From the Liveblog of
Friday, February 27, 2026
From the Liveblog of
Friday, February 27, 2026
UN rights chief ‘extremely alarmed’ by risk of regional escalation around Iran
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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk delivers his speech at the opening of the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, on September 8, 2025. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
The UN rights chief says he is “extremely alarmed” at the risk of a regional escalation around Iran, amid repeated threats of US strikes.
“I am extremely alarmed about the potential for regional military escalation and its impact on civilians, and I hope the voice of reason prevails,” Volker Turk tells the United Nations Human Rights Council.
He also voices alarm at the normalization of the use of force to resolve disputes, warning that conflicts create “a human rights wasteland.”
“We must not revert to violence as an organizing principle,” Turk says. “The world cannot stand by as the edifice of international humanitarian and human rights law is dismantled before our eyes.”
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