UNITED NATIONS, April 14. /TASS/. Tensions between Israel and Iran may trigger a new acute crisis in the Middle East, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.
"In connection with Iran’s attack on Israel, an urgent UN Security Council session was scheduled on the latter’s request, to be held at 4:00 p.m. New York time [8:00 p.m. GMT]. Meanwhile, two letters were sent to the UN Security Council - the Israeli one, about ‘Iran’s violation of the UN Charter’ (as expected, it makes no mention of the strike on the consular department of the Iranian embassy in Damascus) and the Iranian one, speaking about a retaliatory strike delivered in accordance with the right for self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter," he wrote on Telegram.
"The latter warns that if Israel retaliates, Iran will respond in a more powerful and decisive manner," Polyansky said. "Anyway, we are now facing a fresh, highly acute crisis in the Middle East. Everything depends on whether the parties involved will make the next move or not."
Israeli Permanent Representative to the UN Gilad Erdan believes that Iran’s attack violates the UN Charter. At the same time, Iran’s mission to the UN said the attack came as a response to Israel’s attack on its diplomatic facilities In Syria and was carried out in line with the Charter’s clause on legitimate self-defense.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported late on Saturday that Iran had launched drones from its territory towards Israel. The Israeli military remained vigilant and tracked all targets approaching the country, the press service said. Later, missiles were also fired by Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite force within the Iranian Armed Forces, later confirmed that a massive drone and missile attack on Israel was under way.