UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief condemned the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on Saturday and called for an immediate return to negotiations “to pull the region, and our world, back from the brink.”
Secretary-General António Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that everything must be done to prevent further escalation. “The alternative,” he warned, “is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.”
Guterres said the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes violated international law, including the U.N. Charter. He also condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, insisted the U.S. military action was lawful.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," he told the council. “That principle is not a matter of politics. It’s a matter of global security. And to that end, the United States is taking lawful actions.”
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon defended the airstrikes as necessary to stop an existential threat.
“We are stopping extremism before it becomes unstoppable,” he said. “We will ensure that no radical regime armed with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles can threaten our people or the entire world.”
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iranian ambassador to the U.N., told the council that the airstrikes have killed and injured hundreds of Iranian civilians, which he called a war crime and a crime against humanity.
He blasted the U.N. and the Security Council, its most powerful body, for not heeding Tehran’s warnings about the “warmongering statements" by the U.S. in recent weeks and urged the council to act now.
“The issue before the council is straightforward: whether any member state may, including a permanent member of this council, through the use of force, coercion or aggression, determine the political future or system of another state or impose control over its affairs,” Iravani said.
During his speech, the Iranian diplomat did not mention or comment on statements from President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes. The assassination of the second leader of the Islamic Republic, who had no designated successor, raised the prospects of a protracted conflict given Iranian threats of retaliation.
Russia's ambassador condemned the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, while China's ambassador was more measured in his criticism.
“We demand that the United States and Israel immediately cease their aggressive actions,” Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. “We insist on the immediate resumption of political and diplomatic settlement efforts … based on international law, mutual respect and a balance of interests.”
China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said China was very concerned by “the sudden escalation of regional tensions” and supported Russia’s call for a return to diplomatic negotiations.
Five council members — Bahrain, which is the Arab representative on the council, France, Russia, China and Colombia — called for the emergency meeting.
In a joint statement, the leaders of Britain and France — both veto-wielding members of the council — along with Germany’s chancellor called for a resumption of U.S.-Iranian talks on Tehran’s nuclear program. The three countries, part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, have led efforts to reach a negotiated solution. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2018.
The three European leaders strongly condemned Iranian airstrikes in the region — not the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes — and urged Iran’s leaders to seek a negotiated solution, saying: “Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future.”
The Security Council meeting is taking place on the last day of the United Kingdom’s presidency and a day before the United States takes over the rotating presidency for the month of March.
Amiri reported from Atlanta.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends the opening of the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Valentin Flauraud/Keystone via AP)
BRUSSELS (AP) — How long will it last? Will it grow? What will the conflict and the reported death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. mean to us — and to global security overall? Those questions echoed across the Middle East and the planet Saturday as world leaders reacted warily to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that Khamenei was dead, calling it “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.” His death will not bring an end to the joint airstrikes, Trump added.
There was no immediate comment from Iran. Israeli officials previously told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that Khamenei was dead. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a televised address, said there were “growing signs” that Khamenei had been killed when Israel struck his compound early Saturday.
The apparent demise of the second leader of the Islamic Republic, who had no designated successor, would likely throw its future into uncertainty — and exacerbate already growing concerns of a broader conflict. The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting.
Perhaps cautious about upsetting already strained relations with Trump, many nations abstained from commenting directly or pointedly on the joint strikes but condemned Tehran’s retaliation. Similarly to Europeans, governments across the Middle East condemned Iran’s strikes on Arab neighbors while staying silent on the U.S. and Israeli military action.
Other countries were more explicit: Australia and Canada expressed open support for the U.S. strikes, while Russia and China responded with direct criticism.
The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, and Trump called on the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic theocracy that has ruled the nation since 1979. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the Middle East.
In a statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on the U.S. and Iran to resume talks and said they favored a negotiated settlement. They said their countries didn’t take part in the strikes on Iran but are in close contact with the U.S., Israel and partners in the region.
The three countries have led efforts to reach a negotiated solution over Iran’s nuclear program.
“We condemn Iranian attacks on countries in the region in the strongest terms. Iran must refrain from indiscriminate military strikes," they said. "Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future,” they said.
Later, at an emergency security meeting, Macron said France was “neither warned nor involved” in the strikes. He called for intensified efforts for a negotiated solution, saying “no one can think that the questions of Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic activity, regional destabilization will be settled by strikes alone.”
The 22-nation Arab League called the Iranian attacks “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of countries that advocate for peace and strive for stability.” That coalition of nations has historically condemned both Israel and Iran for actions it says risk destabilizing the region.
Morocco, Jordan, Syria and the United Arab Emirates denounced Iranian strikes targeting U.S. military bases in the region including in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the Emirates.
Under former President Bashar Assad, Syria was among Iran’s closest regional allies and a staunch critic of Israel, yet a statement from its foreign ministry singularly condemned Iran, reflecting the new government's efforts to rebuild ties with regional economic heavyweights and the United States.
Saudi Arabia said it “condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the treacherous Iranian aggression and the blatant violation of sovereignty.” Oman, which has been mediating the talks between Iran and the U.S., said in a statement that the U.S. action “constitutes a violation of the rules of international law and the principle of settling disputes through peaceful means, rather than through hostility and the shedding of blood.”
Countries in Europe and the Middle East used careful wording, avoiding perceptions that they either support unilateral American action or are directly condemning the United States.
Others were more blunt. Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the strikes “a pre-planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent U.N. member state.” The ministry accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime change.
Similarly, China’s government said it was “highly concerned” about the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and called for an immediate halt to the military action and a return to negotiations. “Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity should be respected,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said.
Despite recent tensions with the U.S., Canada too expressed its support for the military action. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said.
And the U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, at the request of Bahrain and France.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank said they were largely unfazed as war erupted Saturday, barely pausing as booms echoed across the sky from Israel’s Iron Dome intercepting missiles overhead.
Unlike Israel, Palestinian cities have no warning sirens or bomb shelters, despite the risk of falling debris or errant missiles. As people sheltered less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) away in Jerusalem, streets in Ramallah swarmed with shoppers browsing meat counters, vegetable stalls and Ramadan sweets, some stopping to record the sounds of distant sirens and missile interceptions.
But as Israel closed checkpoints to the movement of people and goods on Saturday, gas stations saw longer-than-usual lines as residents filled spare canisters in case of supply disruptions.
The Palestinian Authority, in a statement, condemned the Iranian attacks on Arab nations, many which have historically helped underwrite its finances. It made no mention of the Israeli or U.S. strikes.
Nervousness is perceptible across multiple countries. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that he was concerned the failure of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran meant a “new, extensive war in the Middle East."
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons condemned the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in harsher words. “These attacks are totally irresponsible and risk provoking further escalation as well as increasing the danger of nuclear proliferation and the use of nuclear weapons,” said its executive director, Melissa Parke.
EU leaders issued a joint statement Saturday calling for restraint and engaging in regional diplomacy in hopes of “ensuring nuclear safety.” The Arab League, too, appealed to all international parties “to work towards de-escalation as soon as possible, to spare the region the scourge of instability and violence, and to return to dialogue.”
Ciobanu reported from Warsaw and Metz from Ramallah. Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Angela Charlton in Paris, Paolo Santalucia in Rome, Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Elise Morton and Krutika Pathi in London, Jamey Keaton in Geneva, Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Fatma Khaled and Sam Magdy in Cairo, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Adam Schreck in Bangkok contributed to this report.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks before media members as he visits facilities of Siemens Energy during his official visit, in Hangzhou, China, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Andres Martinez Casares/Pool Photo via AP)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks with students and staff, during a visit to the Walbottle Academy Campus in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Scott Heppell/PA via AP)
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas visits the coast guard ship KV Bjornoya, in Tromso, Norway, Tuesday Feb. 3, 2026. (Rune Stoltz Bertinussen/NTB Scanpix via AP)
