United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned Sunday against yet “another cycle of destruction” and retaliation following the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which he said marked a “perilous turn” in the region.
“I have repeatedly condemned any military escalation in the Middle East,” the secretary-general told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
“The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction. And yet, we now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also called for restraint as he voiced fears over “potential widening” of the conflict.
“We have a window of opportunity to return to dialogue and diplomacy. If that window closes, violence and destruction could reach unthinkable levels and the global non-proliferation regime as we know it could crumble and fall,” Grossi said.
Speaking to the Security Council by video link, he said there were visible craters at Iran’s key Fordo nuclear facility, “indicating the use by the United States of America of ground-penetrating munitions.”
But Grossi noted that no one had been able to assess the underground damage at Fordo.
He added that “armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place and could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the State which has been attacked.”
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UN chief warns of cycle of retaliation after US bombs Iran
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UN chief warns of cycle of retaliation after US bombs Iran
- ‘The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction,’ Guterres said Sunday
- IAEA chief noted that no one had been able to assess the underground damage at Fordo nuclear facility
Greenland should hold talks with the US without Denmark, opposition leader says
COPENHAGEN: Greenland should hold direct talks with the US government without Denmark, a Greenlandic opposition leader told Reuters, as the Arctic island weighs how to respond to President Donald Trump’s renewed push to bring it under US control.
Trump has recently stepped up threats to take over Greenland, reviving an idea he first floated in 2019 during his first term in office.
Greenland is strategically located between Europe and North America, making it a critical site for the US ballistic missile defense system. Its rich mineral resources also fit Washington’s goal of reducing dependence on China.
The island is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It has its own parliament and government, but Copenhagen retains authority over foreign affairs and defense.
“We encourage our current (Greenlandic) government actually to have a dialogue with the US government without Denmark,” said Pele Broberg, the leader of Naleraq, the largest opposition party and the most prominent political voice for Greenland’s independence.
“Because Denmark is antagonizing both Greenland and the US with their mediation.”
Naleraq, which strongly advocates a rapid move to full independence, doubled its seats to eight in last year’s election, winning 25 percent of the vote in the nation of just 57,000.
Although excluded from the governing coalition, the party has said it wants a defense agreement with Washington and could pursue a “free association” arrangement — under which Greenland would receive US support and protection in exchange for military rights, without becoming a US territory.
All Greenlandic parties want independence but differ on how, and when, to achieve it.
GOVERNMENT SAYS DIRECT TALKS NOT POSSIBLE
Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said Greenland could not conduct direct talks with the US without Denmark because it is not legally allowed to do so.
“We must respect the law, and we have rules for how to resolve issues in the Kingdom,” she told Sermitsiaq daily late on Wednesday.
The Danish and Greenlandic governments did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Broberg’s remarks.
The comments come ahead of a planned meeting between the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio next week to address tensions between NATO allies.
Motzfeldt said it was important to set Greenland’s relationship with Washington on a steady course.
“My greatest hope is that the meeting will lead to a normalization of our relationship,” she told Sermitsiaq.
Rubio appears not to favor a military operation, according to France’s foreign minister. But others in the Trump administration say the option is on the table.
“We are going to make sure we defend America’s interests,” US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News in an interview aired late on Wednesday. “And I think the president is willing to go as far as he has to make sure he does that.”
(Reporting by Tom Little and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; additional reporting by Soren Jeppesen; writing by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Ros Russell)
Trump has recently stepped up threats to take over Greenland, reviving an idea he first floated in 2019 during his first term in office.
Greenland is strategically located between Europe and North America, making it a critical site for the US ballistic missile defense system. Its rich mineral resources also fit Washington’s goal of reducing dependence on China.
The island is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It has its own parliament and government, but Copenhagen retains authority over foreign affairs and defense.
“We encourage our current (Greenlandic) government actually to have a dialogue with the US government without Denmark,” said Pele Broberg, the leader of Naleraq, the largest opposition party and the most prominent political voice for Greenland’s independence.
“Because Denmark is antagonizing both Greenland and the US with their mediation.”
Naleraq, which strongly advocates a rapid move to full independence, doubled its seats to eight in last year’s election, winning 25 percent of the vote in the nation of just 57,000.
Although excluded from the governing coalition, the party has said it wants a defense agreement with Washington and could pursue a “free association” arrangement — under which Greenland would receive US support and protection in exchange for military rights, without becoming a US territory.
All Greenlandic parties want independence but differ on how, and when, to achieve it.
GOVERNMENT SAYS DIRECT TALKS NOT POSSIBLE
Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said Greenland could not conduct direct talks with the US without Denmark because it is not legally allowed to do so.
“We must respect the law, and we have rules for how to resolve issues in the Kingdom,” she told Sermitsiaq daily late on Wednesday.
The Danish and Greenlandic governments did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Broberg’s remarks.
The comments come ahead of a planned meeting between the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio next week to address tensions between NATO allies.
Motzfeldt said it was important to set Greenland’s relationship with Washington on a steady course.
“My greatest hope is that the meeting will lead to a normalization of our relationship,” she told Sermitsiaq.
Rubio appears not to favor a military operation, according to France’s foreign minister. But others in the Trump administration say the option is on the table.
“We are going to make sure we defend America’s interests,” US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News in an interview aired late on Wednesday. “And I think the president is willing to go as far as he has to make sure he does that.”
(Reporting by Tom Little and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; additional reporting by Soren Jeppesen; writing by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Ros Russell)
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