The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on Monday called by the world’s premier state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, in which Tehran’s allies condemned Israel for strikes targeting its missile manufacturing sites and other core military facilities.
Russia and China, two of the five permanent members of the Council, backed Iran’s call for the meeting. Russia’s representative at the platform applauded the Iranian regime for its alleged “restraint” in the face of the growing threat of a direct war with Israel. Iran is already embroiled in a proxy war with Israel through its financing and political support for various terrorist groups in the region, most prominently the genocidal jihadists of Hamas, who prompted the current war by invading Israel on October 7, 2023, and massacring 1,200 people, as well as engaging in abductions, gang rape, and other atrocities.
Iran also backs the Lebanese terrorists of Hezbollah, who have displaced tens of thousands of Israelis in the north of the country through an ongoing terrorism campaign in solidarity with Hamas. The Yemeni Houthi terrorist movement, another beneficiary of Iran’s terrorist financing, also declared war on Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and continue to launch seemingly random attacks on civilian global shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait near the Red Sea.
The latest round of kinetic action between Israel and Iran occurred in the early morning hours of Saturday, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted an air operation targeting Iranian missile factories and other facilities that develop weapons for the regime. In a statement following the operation, the IDF confirmed it was successful, stating, “IAF aircraft struck missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the State of Israel over the last year.”
“These missiles posed a direct and immediate threat to the citizens of the State of Israel,” the statement continued. “Simultaneously, the IDF struck surface-to-air missile arrays and additional Iranian aerial capabilities, that were intended to restrict Israel’s aerial freedom of operation in Iran.”
The strikes were a response to two separate, unprecedented missile barrages by Iran targeting Israeli population centers – not military sites – in April and October. The first round of bombs, consisting of hundreds of missiles and drones, failed almost entirely; the IDF said it blocked 99 percent of projectiles. Israel’s success rate in stopping the October 1 attack was slightly lower but still intercepted the attack almost in its entirety.
At the Security Council, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia disregarded Iran’s belligerent actions almost in their entirety, blaming “West Jerusalem,” as he referred to the nation of Israel, for all hostilities.
“West Jerusalem is trying to involve Iran in confrontation – Iran, which is showing unprecedented restraint under the circumstances,” Nebenzia claimed. “It is very difficult not to have the impression that West Jerusalem is intentionally raising tensions, despite the signals from Tehran that they are ready to refrain from further spiraling confrontation.”
“It is our view that such aggressive actions on the part of Israel are aimed at further stoking the flames of war, are unacceptable and need to stop,” Nebenzia said on behalf of Russia.
Iran also received support from the repressive Bashar Assad regime in Syria, whose representative claimed that Israel’s operations to prevent future Iranian missile attacks were “a flagrant violation of international law” and that his country supported Iran’s “legitimate right to self-defence and the protection of its citizens.”
The Chinese ambassador similarly condemned Israel for attempting to protect its citizens from more Iranian missile barrages and demanded Israel accept a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza, where the terrorists have been embedded for decades.
“The fact that several Council resolutions [demanding a ceasefire] have been shoved aside undermines its authority,” he said, according to a U.N. summary of the meeting.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, representing outgoing President Joe Biden, stated the administration’s support for Israel’s actions but nonetheless urged an “end of the direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran.”
“Let there be no confusion: The United States does not want to see further escalation,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
The American envoy added that Iran, by calling the meeting, was seeking “to gaslight and deflect; to claim the role of victim, while continuing to sow chaos across the region,” noting its position as a top state sponsor of terrorism. Thomas-Greenfield also condemned Russia for defending Iran and claimed “Russia’s words of support are hollow given its own actions in Ukraine.”
The meeting ended without the Security Council drafting any resolutions or taking any action.
As Russia and its other allies supported Iran at the United Nations, Iranian leaders continued to issue a wave of threats against Israel on Tuesday, clearly disregarding calls for deescalation.
“We must put [Israel] in its place,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is subordinate to “supreme leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Tuesday. “If the Zionist regime wants to undermine our security, we are also capable of damaging their security, and they will receive a much more powerful response than before.”
Khamenei himself discouraged Iranian officials from “downplaying” Israel’s operations this weekend in his first remarks on the situation on Sunday.
“They’re making a miscalculation with respect to Iran. They don’t know Iran,” the “supreme leader” said. “They don’t know the Iranian youth. … They still haven’t been able to correctly understand the power, capability, ingenuity, and determination of the Iranian people. We need to make them understand these things.”
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