Russia has requested an urgent session of the United Nations Security Council in response to the US airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. According to media reports, the highest UN body is expected to convene on Monday to address the issue.
The Security Council, at Russia’s request, will hold an urgent meeting on Monday to discuss the US airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, according to media reports. The meeting of the most powerful UN body is scheduled for 10 p.m. CET, as reported by the news agencies dpa and AFP.
Russia had previously announced that it had called for the urgent session of the UN Security Council. “We have just requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on the threat to peace and security posed by the US attacks on Syria and Iraq,” said Russian Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy.
The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow stated, “Washington, confident in its impunity, continues to sow chaos and destruction in the Middle East.” The Foreign Ministry added that it had “strongly condemned” the attacks.
Information on Casualties
According to activists and official sources, at least 39 people were killed in the attacks in Iraq and Syria. A spokesperson for the Iraqi government stated that among the 16 fatalities in Iraq, there were also civilians, but no specific number was given. Additionally, there were 36 injured individuals and damage to residential buildings and private property.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, at least 23 members of pro-Iranian militias were killed in Syria.
Retaliatory Attacks following the Death of Three US Soldiers
The US military announced that it had attacked over 85 targets in Syria and Iraq that were associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the militias supported by them. This was in response to the violent death of three US soldiers who were killed near the Syrian border in Jordan a week ago.
The government in Washington holds radical militias supported by Iran responsible for the deaths. Since mid-October, there have been over 165 attacks on bases in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan, where US Army soldiers and their allies are stationed.
The aim was to diminish the capabilities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and their allies in the region to carry out further attacks on US forces, said John Kirby, the spokesperson for the US National Security Council. President Joe Biden announced that the US retaliatory attacks would continue at an appropriate time.
Iran Calls It a “Strategic Mistake”
Criticism of the US attacks came from Iran. The spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, stated that the attacks violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both countries. The attacks are “another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will only lead to increased tension and instability in the region,” he said.
The spokesperson accused the US of trying to cover up Israeli war crimes in Gaza. This is a “strategic miscalculation” by the US government and will only further involve Washington in the conflict between Israel and Palestine.