Today's Edition
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)
The UN Security Council met on Sunday to discuss US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, and to adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East.
It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote.
A resolution needs at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.
"The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Sunday. "We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation."
"We must act - immediately and decisively - to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear programme," Guterres said.
Guterres called for a shift to diplomacy. "Civilians must be protected. Safe maritime navigation must be guaranteed," he stressed.
"I urge this council - and all member states - to act with reason, restraint, and urgency. We cannot - and must not - give up on peace," the UN chief said.
The world awaited Iran's response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had "obliterated" Tehran's key nuclear sites.
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that while craters were visible at Iran's enrichment site buried into a mountain at Fordow, "no one - including the IAEA - is in a position to assess the underground damage."
Grossi said entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit at Iran's sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex, while the fuel enrichment plant at Natanz has been struck again.
"Iran has informed the IAEA there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites," said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency.
