As clouds of war gather over the Persian Gulf with U.S. hitting Iranian targets in Iraq and Tehran vowing retaliation, the United Nations has said the world cannot afford to have another conflict in the region.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” over U.S.-Iran tensions that have spiraled after the the killing of top Iranian commander Qsem Soleimani in an American strike.
“The Secretary-General has consistently advocated for de-escalation in the Gulf,” Deputy Spokesman at the United Nations Farhan Haq said in a statement amid boiling tensions between Washington and Tehran that surfaced after a pro-Iran mob laid siege to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
#BREAKING: The Pentagon is deploying roughly 3,500 more troops to the Middle East, one day after a U.S. airstrike killed a top Iranian military commander. https://t.co/w3pA1eXRFm
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) January 3, 2020
“This is a moment in which leaders must exercise maximum restraint,” the statement said.
“The world cannot afford another war in the (Persian) Gulf,” Guterres said in the statement.
In Washington, President Trump said Soleimani’s reign of terror is over.
.@realDonaldTrump: Today we remember and honor the victims of Soleimani's many atrocities, and we take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over. pic.twitter.com/PZeJ8vvTNW
— Department of State (@StateDept) January 4, 2020
In the region, Tehran has expressed deep anger over killing of Maj. Gen. Soleimani was killed on Friday in a U.S. strike on Baghdad’s international airport,
The Pentagon in a statement said it carried out the strike on President Donald Trump’s order.
BREAKING: Pentagon statement from Defense Secretary @EsperDoD on strike against #Iran’s Soleimani in #Iraq pic.twitter.com/YAuLlkid01
— Tara Copp (@TaraCopp) January 3, 2020
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to exact “severe revenge” for the general’s death.
“Martyrdom was the reward for his ceaseless efforts in all these years,” Khamenei said on his Twitter account in reference to Soleimani, also declaring three days of mourning.
The tensions have already raised oil prices and thrown the region into uncertainty. Iran is at the center of Central Asia, South Asia and the Gulf region, a main source and artery of world oil supplies.
