Israel declared UN chief Antonio Guterres “persona non grata” on Wednesday, accusing him of failing to specifically condemn Iran’s missile attack on Israel.
“Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil,” said Foreign Minister Israel Katz in a statement.
“This is an anti-Israel Secretary-General who lends support to terrorists, rapists, and murderers,” he said.
Katz added that Guterres, who he said supported the “murderers of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Huthis, and now Iran, the mothership of global terror, will be remembered as a stain on the history of the UN for generations to come”.
Following Iran’s missile attack on Israel late Tuesday, Guterres condemned the “broadening conflict in the Middle East”, slamming “escalation after escalation” in the region.
“This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire,” said Guterres.
Israel has been a harsh critic of the UN, with ties between the state and the international body souring even more after the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Guterres has repeatedly called for a ceasefire to halt the fighting in both Gaza and Lebanon.
Iran Calls For Meaningful Action
Iran’s foreign ministry called on the United Nations Security Council to take “meaningful action” to prevent threats against regional peace and security, after Tehran launched a salvo of missiles against Israel on Tuesday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said the assault was in retaliation for recent Israeli killings of militant leaders and aggression in Gaza and Lebanon. Lebanese Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guards deputy Commander Abbas Nilforoushan were killed in Beirut last week.
“Our defensive operation is in line with international law and the right to self defence … we only targeted military and security facilities,” the foreign ministry said in its statement regarding the missile attack on Israel.
In an earlier post on X, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran’s action was “in defence of Iranian interests and citizens”, adding that his country was not looking for war but would “firmly stand against any threat.”
(with inputs from Reuters and AFP)
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