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Most UN Security Council members avoided criticising the US Israeli operation against Iran or criticised it very obliquely when the Council met in an emergency session, hours after the military escalation began on Saturday.
That’s the view of a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group who took aim at European nations for their criticism and condemnation of Iran’s retaliatory strikes while avoiding any direct criticism of the attacks that precipitated this latest escalation in the Middle East.
Speaking to SABCNEWS, Programme Director for Global Issues and Institutions at the Crisis Group, Dr Richard Gowan says NATO member states in the Council were simply too nervous to criticize the current U.S. administration for fear of losing their security umbrella.
The Council met Saturday amid low expectations given its current makeup and after failing to arrest recent conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan despite its mandate being the maintenance of international peace and Security.
Russia, China, Pakistan and Colombia criticised the US-Israeli intervention as running counter to international law while also denouncing the retaliatory strikes against Gulf countries in the region.
The three African countries – Liberia, Somalia and DRC condemned only Iran’s response while urging all member states to respect their obligations under international law and the U.N. Charter.
Panama warned the actions could lead to unpredictable consequences while Bahrain condemned its targeting by Tehran in its reprisal strikes.
Only five European countries that came in for criticism for only condemning Iran while calling for a return to diplomacy of which is the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Greece and Latvia.
Gowan explained that the Europeans had for years sought to make nuclear diplomacy with Iran work with much frustration and even though they didn’t necessarily want to see this military escalation, there was a sense in Europe according to Gowan that Iran had it coming.
“There is a problem, if you only apply international law, when it relates to nice, cuddly countries, then that sort of massively reduces the credibility of international law as a framework for diplomacy, as a framework for negotiations. I also think that a lot of countries in the global South, looking at this very selective European response to U.S. actions and they see parallels with the way Western countries equivocated over Gaza while demanding that everyone criticize Russia over Ukraine. The double standards narrative, which has been out, that is just getting stronger and stronger.”
U.S. Senate vote fails to advance War Powers Resolution to limit the ongoing military action against Iran.#sabcnews
— Sherwin Bryce-Pease (@sherwiebp) March 4, 2026
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