U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an end to the Israel-Iran conflict on Friday, saying it's "time to stop."
Guterres' post on X came amid Iran's ballistic missile and drone response to Israel's widespread preemptive airstrikes on the Islamic Republic's nuclear infrastructure the night before.
"Israeli bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites. Iranian missile strikes in Tel Aviv. Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail," Guterres wrote.
Guterres released a statement Thursday in which he called for "both sides to show maximum restraint, avoiding at all costs a descent into deeper conflict, a situation that the region can hardly afford."
His Friday post came after the U.N. Security Council convened an emergency session over the conflict.
Guterres' swift public remarks stand in stark contrast to previous proclamations when Israel was on the receiving end of attacks.
Israel last October banned Guterres from entering the country and declared him persona non grata for not condemning Iran's missile attack on Israel fast enough or in strong enough terms. Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel amid an escalation in fighting between its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel.
"Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as nearly all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil," Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz said.
On Oct. 25, 2023, more than two weeks after the Hamas terrorist group massacred more than 1,200 mostly Israeli civilians in an incursion that began Oct. 7, Guterres said the "attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum."
"The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence, their economy stifled, their people displaced, and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing," he said.
Then-Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen assailed Guterres' remarks.
"Mr. Secretary-General, in what world do you live?" asked Cohen. "Definitely, this is not our world."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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