FM: Region on brink of all-out catastrophe amid Western support for Israeli atrocities, UN inaction

Iran’s foreign minister warns that the West Asia region is on “the brink of an all-out catastrophe” due to the US and some other Western countries’ support for Israeli atrocities across the region and the UN Security Council’s inaction.

Abbas Araghchi made the remarks in New York on Wednesday during a press conference held on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

“The United States and some [other] Western countries’ unconditional support has emboldened the Israeli regime to resort to atrocity without punishment,” he said.

“This impunity, alongside the Security Council’s inaction, has put the region in the direction of catastrophe,” the top diplomat added.

Failure to prevent realization of this unwelcome prospect “will prompt the world to face catastrophic consequences, the likes of which have not been witnessed before,” Araghchi said.

He cited the cases of the regime’s ongoing genocidal war on the Gaza Strip and escalated deadly attacks on Lebanon.

Since its onset on October 7, the war has claimed the lives of at least 41,495 Palestinians, mostly women and children, wounded around 93,000 others, and destroyed the entirety of the Palestinian territory’s vital infrastructures.

The escalation against Lebanon, which began following the launch of the brutal military onslaught, has witnessed the regime carrying out countless attacks against the Lebanese territory, killing hundreds of people over the past week alone.

Israel kills 51 more people in Lebanon, Hezbollah responds with missiles

The airstrikes included rare bombardment of the villages of Joun and Maaysra—mountain areas outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds.

“The Israeli regime has already turned Gaza into the ‘heal on earth’ through its campaign of genocide,” Araghchi said, citing a senior UN official’s remarks concerning the situation in the coastal sliver.

“Now, the regime is repeating its crimes in Lebanon,” he remarked, saying the situation in the country had become “worrisome to an unprecedented degree.”

Pezeshkian: Israel has left nothing of human rights, intl. laws with its US-backed inhuman crimes

Iran strongly denounces the Israeli regime for its inhuman crimes against the people of the region, while lambasting the US for providing outright support for the atrocities.

‘Israeli atrocities not to go unanswered’

The official described the regime as “wayward and aggressive,” saying it had crossed all the red lines.

“The international laws, human rights, and peace mean nothing to this terrorist regime,” he observed, saying the regime’s ultimate goal lied in “setting the entire region on fire.”

Araghchi noted that the Islamic Republic had repeatedly warned about the fallout from the regime’s roguish actions, saying the international community could not ignore the US and its allies’ role in enabling the regime to perpetrate its crimes.

“The Israeli rulers have to understand that their atrocities will not go unanswered,” he said, and added that “history will hold the regime’s backers, especially the United States, accountable [for these crimes].”

Araghchi strongly advised the Security Council to intervene towards stopping the regime’s aggression, asserting, “The path towards de-escalation is clear. The Israeli regime has to immediately cease its attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.”

He reasserted the Islamic Republic’s decisive support for the Lebanese government, resistance, and people in the face of the Israeli aggression.

“We have always stated this that we support [Lebanon’s] Hezbollah [resistance movement] in its [efforts to put up] legitimate defense of Lebanon and its people against the Israeli regime’s atrocities and occupation.”

Araghchi, meanwhile, noted that the Islamic Republic had so far observed “extraordinary patience and self-restraint” towards preserving the regional peace and security, but cautioned that the country would resolutely stand on its inherent right to defend its vital interests if need be.

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