Iran has warned that the U.S. blocking of a United Nations resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza could have dire consequences.
On Friday, the United States wielded its UN Security Council veto to shield Israel from a global demand for a ceasefire in a resolution that 13 of the Security Council's 15 members voted for, while the U.K. abstained.
The resolution tabled by the United Arab Emirates, which called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of all hostages, came after the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, triggered Article 99 of the UN Charter, due to the danger of "a collapse of the humanitarian system" in Gaza.
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that, as long as the U.S. "supports the crimes of the Zionist regime [Israel] and the continuation of the war... there is a possibility of an uncontrollable explosion in the situation of the region," the U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported.
A one-week truce between Israel and Hamas in which hostages were released and aid was delivered to Gaza ended on 1 December following claims by Israel that the Palestinian militants had violated the ceasefire. Amir-Abdollahian dismissed this as completely false, and said that U.S. support for Israel "has made it difficult to achieve a lasting ceasefire". Newsweek has contacted the U.S. State Department for comment.
Iranian proxies have staged attacks against U.S. targets in the region amid fears that the conflict, which started after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, could spread further afield. Iran gives military and moral support to Hamas as well as other parts of the Tehran-backed "Axis of Resistance" groups operating across the region.
While Amir-Abdollahian praised the decision by Guterres, he also called for the immediate opening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to enable humanitarian aid to be delivered into the Gaza Strip.
This is because there is growing alarm at the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) said that, even where there are limited health services, bombardment, shelling and movement restrictions "mean people are struggling to access the life-saving help they need."
"From a humanitarian point of view, a halt to fighting is the only way to address the immediate needs of civilians in Gaza, both for aid and for protection," the IRC told Newsweek in an emailed statement.
Following the UN vote, Israeli planes continued their bombardment of Gaza City, including land to which Palestinians had been told to evacuate in the south of the territory, according to the Associated Press.
Following the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7, which killed at least 1,200 people, Israeli bombardments have killed more than 17,400 people in Gaza, the AP reported, citing the Hamas-controlled territory's health officials.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
