UN Security Council condemns Iran’s retaliatory strikes in the Middle East

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NEW YORK – The United Nations Security Council on March 11 decisively adopted a Bahraini-led resolution condemning Iran’s regional attacks, and rejected a Russian proposal seeking an end to the conflict in the Middle East.

These votes occurred as US and Israeli forces continued bombarding Iran for a 12th day, with Iranian retaliation reverberating throughout the Middle East.

“I speak to you now while sirens are sounding,” Bahrain’s representative to the UN, Mr Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, told the council, decrying the loss of civilian lives and infrastructure in countries that he said posed no threat to Iran.

Thirteen out of the 15 member countries of the Security Council, including the United States, Britain and France, supported Bahrain’s resolution, proposed on behalf of six Gulf nations and Jordan. China and Russia abstained.

Supporters pointed out that 135 nations co-sponsored the resolution, demonstrating widespread unity against Iran’s actions that block the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for oil, and threaten the global economy.

Mr Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the UN, addressed the countries facing retaliation from Iran: “135 countries stand with you.”

“This is exactly what the United Nations should be about,” he added – a strong show of support for the institution from a Trump administration official, despite the US having withdrawn from many UN organisations.

Iran’s representative, Mr Amir-Saeid Iravani, called it “a deeply regrettable day” for the council, accusing it of misusing its mandate and the US of “abusing its position” as the current head of the council, while noting that Washington was the aggressor in a war that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and others.

More than 1,348 civilians, including children, have been killed in US and Israeli attacks, he said. Mr Iravani called the resolution condemning Iran hypocritical in view of the “facts on the ground”.

Russia’s UN representative, Mr Vasily Nebenzya, said his country’s proposal aimed to de-escalate, and did not seek to lay blame for causes of the conflict to ensure its adoption. He called it “simple, direct and unequivocal in nature”, and said it urged an end to fighting, condemned strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and called for negotiations.

Four countries on the Security Council voted in favour of it – Russia, China, Pakistan and Somalia. The US and Latvia opposed it, while France, Britain, Bahrain, Colombia, Congo, Denmark, Greece, Liberia and Panama abstained.

Some who did not support the Russian resolution said that in view of its war on Ukraine, Russia’s proposal seemed dubious. NYTIMES