UN Security Council convenes emergency meeting after Iranian attack on Israel

Following Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack against Israel overnight, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will convene an emergency meeting on Sunday evening.

The representative of Malta, which currently holds the UNSC presidency, stated that following an Israeli demand, the council would convene a meeting regarding “’the situation in the Middle East’ to consider the drone & missile attack by Iran on Israel.”

Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan, in his letter, “called on the Council to hold an emergency meeting and demanded that they condemn Iran’s attack on Israel and designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organization,” he wrote on 𝕏.

“The Iranian attack is a serious threat to global peace and security and I expect the Council to use every means to take concrete action against Iran,” he added.

Watch Israel defending the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque from Iranian missile and drones! For the murderous Ayatollah regime, murdering Israelis is more important than safeguarding Islamic holy sites. The UN must clearly and unambiguously condemn the Iranian attack on Israel… pic.twitter.com/ajeg7Fy2Ds

— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) April 14, 2024

Shortly after, Erdan shared a video of Israel's air defense systems intercepting missiles over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

“Watch Israel defending the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque from Iranian missiles and drones! For the murderous Ayatollah regime, murdering Israelis is more important than safeguarding Islamic holy sites. The UN must clearly and unambiguously condemn the Iranian attack on Israel now,” Erdan reiterated.

In addition to numerous other world leaders, UN Sec.-Gen. António Guterres condemned “the serious escalation represented by the large-scale attack launched on Israel by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“I am deeply alarmed about the very real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation,” he added, calling on Israel and Iran to “avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East.”

Iran’s UN mission meanwhile warned Israel and the U.S. not to respond to the early Sunday morning attack.

“Should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe,” Iran’s representatives wrote. “It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the US MUST STAY AWAY!”

“Iran’s military action was in response to the Zionist regime’s aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus. The matter can be deemed concluded.”

“Last night, Iran initiated an attack against Israel, launching over 300 threats of various types,” IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said Sunday morning. “99% of the threats launched towards Israeli territory were intercepted - a very significant strategic achievement.”

The Iranian regime claimed the attack was a response to the alleged Israeli strike near the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, that killed seven senior Iranian officers on April 1, including senior Iranian Quds Force general, Mohammad Reza Zahedi.