NEW YORK: “The war in Syria is not only Syria’s war,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday. “Ending it, and the tremendous suffering it continues to cause, is a collective responsibility. Today, we must all commit fully to achieving that goal.”
He again called for a political resolution to the conflict and reiterated that there can be no military solution. He added that the country is in a kind of limbo as “the situation continues to drift toward one of no war, no peace.”
Guterres was speaking during an informal plenary session of the General Assembly convened by its president, Volkan Bozkir, so that the secretary-general could brief members on the latest developments in the country. These included progress on the implementation of Resolution 2254, which was adopted in December 2015 and calls for a ceasefire and political settlement; the humanitarian crisis; and the human rights situation.
“Credible progress” in the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee is, Guterres said, a critical step toward the implementation of Resolution 22454. This calls for the drafting of a new constitution that will pave the way for free and fair elections, under the auspices of the UN, in which all Syrians, including the diaspora, will have the right to vote.
“The results of the committee’s work so far have fallen short of my expectations. More importantly, they have fallen short of the Syrian people’s expectations,” he added. He echoed a call by Geir Pedersen, the UN’s special envoy for Syria, for the upcoming sixth session of the committee to establish clear goals, credible working methods and enhanced cooperation between its two co-chairs. This could be a foundation on which to build trust, Guterres said, as he again stressed that the fate of the Syrians is not “solely in their hands” given that several foreign armed forces are active in the country.
Despite 12 months of “relative calm” following the Astana ceasefire agreement in March 2020, he said “it was still a treacherous year: airstrikes, exchanges of artillery and small-arms fire continued.”
Recent serious challenges to the “trends toward relative calm” included a number of incidents on March 21: an attack on a UN-supported hospital in Atarib, Aleppo; aerial strikes near the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing through which UN humanitarian aid shipments arrive in Syria from Turkey; and the shelling of residential neighborhoods in Aleppo.
March 15 marked the 10th anniversary of the start of the war in Syria, which was sparked by a brutal crackdown by Assad regime forces on peaceful demonstrators demanding reforms. Since then, Syrians have endured “some of the gravest crimes the world has witnessed this century,” Guterres said.
“The massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Syria over the past decade shock the conscience,” he added, as he denounced the impunity with which the perpetrators of these crimes have been allowed to act.
The ongoing effects of the war have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is expected to continue to affect the country for the rest of this year. Guterres said that plans are under way to send vaccines to the country, with the first shipment, with enough doses for 3 percent of the population, already dispatched.
He called on member states to show “generous support” by donating the $10 billion required to provide humanitarian for more than 12 million people in need across Syria and about 6 million refugees in neighboring countries.
In his former role as high commissioner for refugees, Guterres said he not only witnessed the “dramatic suffering” of Syrian refugees but was also inspired by the “enormous generosity and solidarity” of the Syrian people in years gone by when they welcomed millions refugees from Iraq and Palestine who sought refuge in their country.
The secretary-general also called for the world to pay “urgent attention” to the “tens of thousands of Syrians who have been arbitrarily deprived of their liberty” in Syria. They include detainees, abductees and those who have been forcibly disappeared.
“Men and women detainees, including boys as young as 11, have been subjected to a range of sexual violence, including rape and sexual torture, including genital mutilation,” Guterres said, as he called for human rights and humanitarian organizations to be granted access to all detention centers.
“After a decade of war, many Syrians have lost confidence that the international community can help them forge an agreed path out of the conflict,” he said. But he vowed to continue relentlessly to pursue a political settlement to the conflict that creates the necessary conditions for the safe and voluntary return of refugees.
UN chief: the world has a ‘collective responsibility’ to end the war in Syria
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UN chief: the world has a ‘collective responsibility’ to end the war in Syria
- ‘We must all commit fully to achieving that goal,’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tells General Assembly
- He also calls on nations to show “generous support” for Syrians by providing $10 billion to fund vital humanitarian aid
France offers to help make Gaza food distribution safer
- Barrot expressed anger over "the 500 people who have lost their life in food distribution" in Gaza in recent weeks
PARIS: France “stands ready, Europe as well, to contribute to the safety of food distribution” in the Palestinian territory of Gaza, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Saturday.
His comments came as criticism grew over mounting civilian deaths at Israeli-backed food distribution centers in the territory.
Such an initiative, he added, would also deal with Israeli concerns that armed groups such as Hamas were getting hold of the aid.
Barrot expressed anger over “the 500 people who have lost their life in food distribution” in Gaza in recent weeks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyanu on Friday denounced as a “blood libel” a report in left-leaning daily Haaretz alleging that military commanders had ordered soldiers to fire at Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza
Aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Friday denounced the Israel- and US-backed food distribution effort in Gaza as “slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid.”
And UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that hungry people in Gaza seeking food must not face a “death sentence.”
The health ministry in Gaza, a territory controlled by Hamas, says that since late May, more than 500 people have been killed near aid centers while seeking scarce supplies.
Iran could again enrich uranium ‘in matter of months’: IAEA chief
- “They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,” Grossi said Friday, according to a transcript of the interview released Saturday
WASHINGTON: UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi says Iran likely will be able to begin to produce enriched uranium “in a matter of months,” despite damage to several nuclear facilities from US and Israeli attacks, CBS News said Saturday.
Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iranian nuclear and military sites on June 13, saying it was aimed at keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition the Islamic republic has consistently denied.
The United States subsequently bombed three key facilities used for Tehran’s atomic program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the extent of the damage to the nuclear sites is “serious,” but the details are unknown. US President Donald Trump insisted Iran’s nuclear program had been set back “decades.”
But Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said “some is still standing.”
“They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,” Grossi said Friday, according to a transcript of the interview released Saturday.
Another key question is whether Iran was able to relocate some or all of its estimated 408.6-kilo (900-pound) stockpile of highly enriched uranium before the attacks.
The uranium in question is enriched to 60 percent — above levels for civilian usage but still below weapons grade. That material, if further refined, would theoretically be sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs.
Grossi admitted to CBS: “We don’t know where this material could be.”
“So some could have been destroyed as part of the attack, but some could have been moved. So there has to be at some point a clarification,” he said in the interview.
For now, Iranian lawmakers voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA and Tehran rejected Grossi’s request for a visit to the damaged sites, especially Fordo, the main uranium enrichment facility.
“We need to be in a position to ascertain, to confirm what is there, and where is it and what happened,” Grossi said.
In a separate interview with Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” program, Trump said he did not think the stockpile had been moved.
“It’s a very hard thing to do plus we didn’t give much notice,” he said, according to excerpts of the interview. “They didn’t move anything.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday underscored Washington’s support for “the IAEA’s critical verification and monitoring efforts in Iran,” commending Grossi and his agency for their “dedication and professionalism.”
The full Grossi interview will air on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday.
Israeli protesters urge action for Gaza hostages after Iran truce
- A crowd filled “Hostages Square” in central Tel Aviv, waving Israeli flags and placards bearing the pictures of Israelis seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel
TEL AVIV: Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Israel on Saturday to demand that the government secure the release of 49 hostages still held in Gaza, AFP reporters saw.
It was the first rally by hostages’ relatives since Israel agreed a ceasefire with Iran on June 24 after a 12-day war, raising hopes that the truce would lend momentum to efforts to end the Gaza conflict and bring the hostages home.
Emergency restrictions in place during the war with Iran had prevented the normally weekly rally from taking place.
A crowd filled “Hostages Square” in central Tel Aviv, waving Israeli flags and placards bearing the pictures of Israelis seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The deadly attacks prompted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a fierce military offensive in Gaza, vowing to crush Hamas and free the hostages.
Twenty months and several hostage exchanges later, 49 of those seized are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead — raising pressure on Netanyahu’s government.
“The war with Iran ended in an agreement. The war in Gaza must end the same way — with a deal that brings everyone home,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main body representing the relatives, in a statement to mark the rally.
Some demonstrators called on US President Donald Trump to help secure a ceasefire in Gaza that would see the captives freed, hailing his backing for Israel in the conflict with Iran.
“President Trump, end the crisis in Gaza. Nobel is waiting,” read one placard, in reference to a possible peace prize for the US leader.
“I call on Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump,” one released hostage, Liri Albag, said at the rally.
“You made brave decisions on Iran. Now make the brave decision to end the war in Gaza and bring them home.”
Gaza aid system ‘leads to mass killings’
- Thousands of Palestinians walk for hours to reach distribution sites, moving through Israeli military zones
GAZA CITY: UN officials said a US- and Israeli-backed distribution system in Gaza was leading to mass killings of people seeking humanitarian aid, drawing accusations from Israel that the UN was “aligning itself with Hamas.”
Eyewitnesses and local officials have reported repeated killings of Palestinians seeking aid at distribution centers over recent weeks in the war-stricken territory, where Israeli forces are battling militants.
The Israeli military has denied targeting people seeking aid, and the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has denied that any deadly incidents were linked to its sites.
The new aid distribution system has become a killing field with people shot at while trying to access food for themselves and their families.
Philippe Lazzarini, Head of the UN agency for Palestinian affairs
But following weeks of reports, UN officials and other aid providers denounced what they said was a wave of killings of hungry people seeking aid.
“The new aid distribution system has become a killing field,” with people “shot at while trying to access food for themselves and their families,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian affairs , or UNWRA.
“This abomination must end through a return to humanitarian deliveries from the UN, including @UNRWA,” he wrote on X.
The Health Ministry in the territory says that since late May, more than 500 people have been killed near aid centers while seeking scarce supplies.
Hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza.
Thousands of Palestinians walk for hours to reach the sites, moving through Israeli military zones.
The country’s civil defense agency has also repeatedly reported people being killed while seeking aid.
“People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“The search for food must never be a death sentence.”
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, branded the GHF relief effort “slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid.”
That drew an angry response from Israel, which said GHF had provided 46 million meals in Gaza.
“The UN is doing everything it can to oppose this effort. In doing so, the UN is aligning itself with Hamas, which is also trying to sabotage the GHF’s humanitarian operations,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a newspaper report that the country’s military commanders ordered soldiers to fire at Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Left-leaning daily Haaretz had earlier quoted unnamed soldiers as saying commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds near aid distribution centers to disperse them even when they posed no threat.
Haaretz said the military advocate general, the army’s top legal authority, had instructed the military to investigate “suspected war crimes” at aid sites.
The Israeli military declined to comment on the claim.
Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz that their country “absolutely rejects the contemptible blood libels” and “malicious falsehoods” in the Haaretz article.
The military said in a separate statement it “did not instruct the forces to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution centers.”
It added that Israeli military “directives prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians.”
Israel blocked deliveries of food and other crucial supplies into Gaza from March for more than two months.
It began allowing supplies to trickle in at the end of May, with GHF centers secured by armed US contractors and Israeli troops on the perimeter.
Guterres said that from the UN, just a “handful” of medical deliveries had crossed into Gaza this week.
Tehran remains committed to diplomacy, but ‘peace by force is not peace,’ Iran’s ambassador to Japan tells Arab News Japan
- In exclusive interview, Peiman Seadat slams the US for siding with “aggressor” Israel, says Iran "now assessing the situation”
- Sees growing alignment between Iran and Arab and Islamic states and “positive and constructive path” toward regional peace
TOKYO: From the only country ever targeted by atomic bombs, a senior Iranian diplomat has called for a return to diplomacy over destruction amid simmering nuclear tensions in the Middle East.
Peiman Seadat, Tehran’s ambassador to Japan, says his country remains open to dialogue but cautions that “peace by force is not peace” following recent attacks on its nuclear sites and failed negotiations.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News on Saturday, Seadat described genuine diplomacy as requiring “mutual respect, even on points of disagreement, equal footing, and a willingness to achieve a satisfactory outcome for parties involved.”
Iranian authorities are “now assessing the situation” and weighing options for resuming negotiations, he said.
Seadat’s remarks come amid simmering tensions following a 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel, which ended with a ceasefire on June 24.
Accusing both the US and Israel of choosing aggression over diplomacy, he said the attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities were carried out two days before planned talks with the US, and thus have deepened a “legacy of distrust.”
“Rather than condemning the party that disrupted the negotiations, the Americans sided with the aggressor,” he said. “They, therefore, betrayed the very negotiation to which they were a party.
“Accordingly, the conclusion is that they were complicit in the aggression, a fact they further proved when they launched attacks against our peaceful nuclear sites, thus joining the Israelis in gross violation of every tenet of international law.”
In his first public remarks after the truce, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared victory, claiming Iran “slapped America in the face” by striking the Al-Udeid base in Qatar in retaliation for the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities.
Warning that any future attacks would prompt further strikes on American targets, he asserted Iran’s regional capabilities and rejected calls for concessions.
Khamenei also downplayed the impact of the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, claiming that the US acted mainly to protect Israel after Iranian missiles penetrated Israeli defenses.
US President Donald Trump ridiculed Khamenei’s victory claims, insisting Iran had been “decimated” and its nuclear sites “obliterated” during the conflict.
Trump said he had considered but ultimately rejected plans to assassinate Khamenei, claiming he “saved him from a very ugly and ignominious death” by stopping direct attacks from the US or Israel.
He also said he halted plans to lift sanctions on Iran following Khamenei’s “blatant and foolish” statements and warned he would “absolutely” consider bombing Iran again if Tehran resumed nuclear enrichment at threatening levels.
Trump further claimed to have pressured Israel to avoid delivering a “final knockout” blow, suggesting Israeli strikes could have targeted Tehran directly if not for US intervention.
On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned Trump’s comments, saying a potential nuclear deal hinges on the US ending its “disrespectful tone” toward the supreme leader.
“If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt supporters,” Araghchi posted on the social platform X.
Seadat said that Iran remained committed to diplomacy, citing his country’s continued adherence to the 2015 nuclear deal and participation in talks until Israeli strikes derailed the process.
“Iran has always been a party to genuine diplomacy, but peace by force is not peace; it is, rather, coercion,” he said. “What we wanted was a cessation of aggression, and we achieved it at this stage, with resolve. So, while we remain highly vigilant, we will see how the situation unfolds.”
As diplomatic strains persist, Israeli officials have signaled a readiness to escalate. On June 26, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told local media that Israel has a “green light” from Trump to strike Iran again if it appears to be advancing its nuclear program.
He added that Israel would not have needed US permission to target Khamenei directly.
That same day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory and framed the conflict as a strategic opportunity to expand diplomatic ties with Arab states.
“We have fought with determination against Iran and achieved a great victory. This victory opens the path to dramatically enlarge the peace accords,” Netanyahu said in a video address, referencing the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries in 2020.
However, Gulf states have condemned both Iran’s missile strike on Qatar and Israel’s attacks on Iranian facilities, citing concerns over regional stability and national sovereignty.
In a joint statement on June 16, Arab countries rejected and condemned Israel’s military aggression against Iran, calling instead for a return to negotiations.
Seadat insisted that Iran’s nuclear program remains peaceful and said Iran’s parliament moved to limit cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) only after repeated, ignored reassurances from Tehran.
“Up to the moment our sites were attacked in contravention of the NPT rules, the IAEA Statute, and two resolutions by its General Conference that prohibit any attack on IAEA-safeguarded peaceful nuclear sites, 130 IAEA inspectors were in place, meaning one-fifth of all inspections conducted by the IAEA in the world,” Seadat said.
He added: “Regardless of disagreements, the IAEA continued its most robust verification regime in the world in Iran.”
Even after the attacks, Seadat said, both the IAEA and US intelligence confirmed there were no signs of nuclear weapons activity — despite early claims, which he attributed to a “very irresponsible” IAEA report.
He said the 2015 nuclear agreement created “a balance: a cap on our peaceful nuclear program in return for full removal of sanctions.” That arrangement, he added, was especially reassuring as it was backed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
“This is a model that Japan and some others have. They also enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. I do not know what to say, unless the meaning of reassuring has changed, perhaps because of the aggressions by the Israeli regime and the Americans on Iran,” Seadat said.
Tensions had started escalating after a May 31 IAEA report revealed that Iran had increased uranium enrichment to 60 percent — the only non-nuclear weapons state to do so — and expanded its stockpile of near-weapons-grade material by 50 percent in three months. Iran dismissed the report as “politically motivated” and “baseless accusations.”
On Wednesday, Rafael Grossi, IAEA director general, said his top priority is resuming inspections in Iran to determine the impact of the recent strikes. The extent of any damage remains unclear.
While Grossi suggested Iran may have relocated parts of its stockpile ahead of the attacks, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday he had seen no intelligence supporting that claim.
Looking ahead, Seadat noted that Japan could play a significant diplomatic role, referencing its unique moral standing as the only country to have experienced atomic bombings.
“The Hibakusha, the first generation of survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, still walk among us in Japan,” he said. “Because of this, Japan possesses a profound moral authority, having known the depths of suffering like few others.”
He added that Japan is well-positioned to support peace through “inclusive” regional development, particularly efforts that enhance energy security for all.
Seadat also said there is growing alignment between Iran and Arab and Islamic states, which he described as a “positive and constructive path” toward regional peace.
However, he cautioned that maintaining momentum would require active, sustained support from all sides.
Although East Asia lies far from Iran, Seadat emphasized cultural similarities and the potential for cooperation — especially through Japan’s technological expertise and diplomatic engagement.
“We need this new paradigm in our region, and I believe Japan, through the dynamism of its diplomacy, can contribute to it,” he said.
