“The number one world sponsor of terror has exposed its true face” said Israel’s ambassador, and “the gloves must come on.”
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Iran must be heavily punished by the world for its unprecedented missile attack on Israel overnight Saturday, Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan told an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Sunday.
“Today the Council must take action,” Erdan demanded of the body. “Condemn Iran for their terror, trigger the snapback mechanism, and reimpose crippling sanctions. Designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terror organization.”
“The mask of Iranian deniability has been removed,” he said. “No more hiding and no more bluffing. No more shirking of responsibility. Iran has attacked Israel from its own sovereign territory, publicly and proudly.”
Iran launched over 300 missiles at Israel, including ballistic and cruise missiles, 99% of which were shot down by the air forces of Israel, the U.S., Great Britain, France and Jordan, and Israel’s ground-based interceptor defense systems.
“Iran, the number one global sponsor of terror, has exposed its true face as the destabilizer of the region and the world,” he told the body.
“The mask comes off and the gloves must come on.”
This shouldn’t be done “for Israel’s sake,” he continued, nor even for the region’s sake, “but for the world’s sake. Stop Iran today.”
Among his other demands, Erdan also said that as “the world’s worst human rights violator, such a regime cannot hold any UN position.” Iran should not “receive the red carpet treatment” at the world body, nor receive any more “appeasements,” he said.
The Iranian ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, responded by saying that his country had merely exercised its “inherent right to self-defense” and had “no choice” but to act in response to Israel’s attack on its embassy compound in Damascus two weeks ago.
Seven military officers were killed in the airstrike, including two generals, one of whom headed the IRGC’s Quds Force and allegedly masterminded the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7 in which 1,200 people were massacred and 253 taken hostage.
Iravani then accused Israel of being “the real threat to international peace and security” and called for sanctions against the Jewish state.
He scolded the UNSC, saying, “The Security Council … failed in its duty to maintain international peace and security,” and that it is “time” for the body “to shoulder its responsibility and address” the alleged threat that Israel poses to the world.
For his part, UN Secretary-General António Guterres repeated his “strong condemnation” of Iran on Saturday for its “serious escalation represented by the large-scale attack launched on Israel.”
He then evenhandedly reminded the group that the UN Charter forbids any member from “using force” against a fellow member’s territory, and that “the principle of inviolability of diplomatic and consulate premises and personnel must be respected in all cases in accordance with international law.”
His bottom line was that “It’s time to step back from the brink…. Neither the region nor the world can afford more war.”
“The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate.”