Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations sharply criticized Iran’s UN representative, calling him “a wolf disguised as a diplomat,” during a heated session of the Security Council on Saturday, mere hours before the U.S. launched strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran.
Following the U.S. strikes on nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, which President Donald Trump declared had been “totally obliterated,” Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, demanded another “emergency meeting” of the Security Council. He called for condemnation of the U.S. actions “in the strongest possible terms” and insisted they should not go “unpunished.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran urgently requests the Security Council to convene an emergency meeting without delay to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression,” Iravani wrote in a letter to .
Iravani described the U.S. strikes as “premeditated and unprovoked,” and asserted they constituted a “flagrant violation of international law.”
Earlier, Danon, responding to similar allegations against Israel, underscored the council’s hypocrisy, labeling the Iranian representative a “wolf disguised as a diplomat.”
“How dare a representative of a regime that finances, arms, and orchestrates terrorism all over the world, ask for compassion from this Council?” Danon stated during a council session on Saturday. “You are not a victim. You are not a diplomat. You are a wolf disguised as a diplomat, and we are done pretending otherwise.”
Following the U.S. strike , which involved five to six bunker buster bombs dropped on the Fordow nuclear site and approximately 30 Tomahawk missiles fired against sites in Natanz and Isfahan, Danon told Digital that “after decades of ignoring the International community, Iran is trying to play victim and ask for sympathy from the Security Council.”
“Secretary-General Guterres should be thanking President Trump for taking action and making the world a safer place—instead of condemning the U.S. for promoting peace through strength,” Danon told Digital.
“After years of the UN’s incompetence that allowed Iran to accelerate its dangerous nuclear weapons program, the U.S. has acted forcefully to prevent a destructive nuclear Iran from , the U.S. and the free world,” he said.
“I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge—and a direct threat to international peace and security,” Guterres said in a statement.
“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control—with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” he added, calling on UN member states to “de-escalate and to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter and other rules of international law.”
An Iranian missile attack on Israel on Sunday, hours after the U.S. struck nuclear facilities in Iran, scored direct hits in the cities of Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Nes Ziona, causing widespread destruction but no immediate fatalities, Israeli authorities reported.
Images shared by Israel’s first responders depicted multi-story buildings with their sides blown away and windows shattered, and single-family homes in ruins, as rescue crews searched the debris for survivors.
Israel’s first aid agency, Magen David Adom, stated there were no initial reports of fatalities, but dozens were injured and evacuated to hospital.
In a press briefing, Tel Aviv’s Mayor Ron Huldai said the damage in his city was “very extensive but in terms of human life, we are okay.”
“Houses here were hit very, very badly,” he commented, adding that “fortunately, one of them was slated for demolition and reconstruction, so there were no residents inside. Those who were in the shelter are all safe and well.”
In Nes Ziona, a town just south of Tel Aviv, a house was directly hit by a missile and the surrounding buildings destroyed, but, according to Israeli media reports, the families were in their shelter.
Israel’s home front command on Sunday reinstated the country’s emergency footing, days after some of the restrictions on commercial centers and larger gatherings had been eased.