At the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Iran and Israel strongly disagreed on whether diplomacy can resolve the tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme — the same issue that recently triggered 13 days of violent conflict between both countries.
Iran insisted that diplomatic efforts remain the best and only way to settle differences with Israel and the global community over its nuclear ambitions. Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, stressed that his country did not initiate the war and halted its “lawful military response” once the attacks against it stopped.
Reaffirming Iran’s commitment to peaceful engagement, Saeid told the Council, “Iran continues to believe that a diplomatic resolution to nuclear and sanction issues is possible.” He urged the UN to condemn what he described as unlawful attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran and its nuclear facilities protected under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
He also emphasised Iran’s compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), noting that all of Tehran’s remedial actions were in accordance with these frameworks.
In contrast, Israel rejected the diplomatic route, asserting that negotiations with Iran had failed. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon defended Israel’s military operation as necessary to counter what he called a “double existential threat” posed by Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities. Danon said Israel, in coordination with the United States, achieved total air dominance and struck key Iranian targets.
He accused Iran of using diplomacy as a smokescreen for its nuclear weapons ambitions, saying, “We are often told that diplomacy must be given a chance. It was given every chance. But so far it has failed. The regime in Tehran never had any intention of complying.”
The United States, while urging restraint, called on Iran to return to the negotiating table and abandon its nuclear pursuits. Acting U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Dorothea Shea, said Iran’s expanded nuclear activity had no “credible civilian justification.”
UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward welcomed the U.S.-brokered ceasefire but warned that the situation remained volatile. She echoed the call for renewed diplomatic efforts and urged Iran to reengage without delay, stressing that its programme had gone beyond peaceful limits.
The European Union also backed diplomacy as the only viable route. Amb. Stavros Lambrinidis said, “Ensuring that Iran does not acquire or develop a nuclear weapon remains a key security priority for the EU,” and reiterated that military action cannot provide a lasting solution.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, described the fragile ceasefire as a chance to avert wider conflict and pursue a peaceful resolution to the nuclear issue. She noted that the goals of the JCPOA and the resolution backing it remained unmet.
The JCPOA, originally negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus the EU, seeks to ensure Iran’s nuclear programme is limited to peaceful purposes in exchange for sanctions relief and other incentives.
