WANA (Feb 28) – The United Nations Security Council will convene an emergency session today (Saturday, local time) following airstrikes carried out by the United States and Israel against Iran.

 

The emergency meeting is being held at the request of the Islamic Republic of Iran, China, Russia, and France.

 

Earlier, António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, condemned what he described as “today’s military escalation in the Middle East” in response to the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

 

The UN chief stressed that “all Member States must act in accordance with their obligations under international law, including the Charter of the United Nations.” He noted that the Charter clearly prohibits “the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.”

 

Calling for “an immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres warned that failure to move in that direction risks triggering a broader regional conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability. He strongly encouraged all parties to return to the negotiating table without delay.

 

The emergency session comes despite ongoing serious negotiations between Iran and the United States. Early Saturday morning (February 28, 2026), U.S. and Israeli forces launched strikes on multiple locations across Iranian cities, in what Tehran described as a repeat of past patterns carried out irrespective of diplomatic efforts.

 

Donald Trump, President of the United States, announced the start of what he called “large-scale military strikes against Iran” in a video posted on his social media platform, Truth Social. The U.S. Department of Defense has reportedly named the operation “Operation Epic Fury.”

 

Trump defended the action by stating that “the United States military is carrying out a massive and sustained operation to eliminate threats to America and our core national security interests.”

 

Iran, for its part, had framed its negotiations with Washington as an effort to provide greater transparency regarding the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities. The renewed strikes, however, appear to underscore a recurring and contentious pattern in international relations—where diplomacy and military pressure unfold in parallel, often undermining one another.