UNITED NATIONS, October 2. /TASS/. Israel does not want to deal with the crisis it has triggered alone and plans to drag the US into a direct conflict with Iran, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.
"Another dangerous illusion is that Israel, which has significant military superiority, intends to deal with the crisis it has created on its own. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the Israeli leadership plans to do whatever it takes to trigger a direct conflict between Iran, its main regional opponent, and the United States," he noted at a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.
"It’s hard to say if Washington understands that so far, this play is being performed to a tune composed by Israel," Nebenzya went on to say. "If it reaches the end, the conflict may escalate to a level never seen before, posing a threat not only to the Middle East but to the entire world. We are confident that it is in our common interest to prevent such developments. We would like to believe that our American colleagues will finally begin to see things clearly and fully realize their responsibility as a permanent UN Security Council member," he added.
On September 23, Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows against the Lebanon-based Hezbollah Shia movement, carrying out massive airstrikes on its military targets. The stated goal is to create safe conditions for the return of local residents to Israel’s northern border areas. A September 27 strike on Beirut killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The Israeli army announced the start of a ground operation in the border areas of southern Lebanon in the early hours of October 1.
Late on October 1, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a massive ballistic and hypersonic missile attack against Israel. Tehran said that 90% of the missiles hit their designated targets. Israel, in turn, said that Iran had fired some 180 missiles into the country, most of which were intercepted and no damage was done to the combat capability of the Israeli Air Force.