Iran calls for emergency UN meeting over 'full-scale' war possibility
What's the story
Iran has requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) after the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike.
This request was made through a letter to the council, where Iran's UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani urged immediate action to stop Israel's aggression and prevent a full-scale war.
The letter also highlighted that Iran will not tolerate any further aggression and is ready to defend its national and security interests according to international law.
Global response
International reactions to Nasrallah's assassination
"Take immediate and decisive action to stop Israel's ongoing aggression and prevent... from dragging the region into full-scale war," he wrote.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has blamed the United States for backing the operation that took out Nasrallah.
US President Joe Biden noted that the effort to remove Nasrallah took place in the broader context of conflict, which began with Hamas' slaughter of Israelis on October 7, 2023.
Diverging views
International efforts for peace amid escalating conflict
Biden called the Israeli strike that killed Nasrallah a "measure of justice" for those who suffered during a decades-long "reign of terror."
"Nasrallah, the next day, made the fateful decision to join hands with Hamas and open what he called a 'northern front' against Israel," Biden said in a statement.
He also said that Hezbollah, under Nasrallah's leadership, has killed thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese.
Accusations and aftermath
Iran accuses US of backing operation, aftermath unfolds
With tensions in Lebanon reaching new heights, Norway's foreign minister said that European, Arab, and Islamic countries have launched an initiative to ramp up support for a Palestinian state and gear up for a post-war future in Gaza.
Norway is the guarantor of the 1993 Oslo Accords, seen as a watershed moment in the decades-long conflict between Arabs and Jews, which established the Palestinian Authority.
Russia's foreign minister has also strongly condemned Israel's killing of Nasrallah.