Published on 23/06/2025
US President Donald Trump had said Thursday that he would decide within two weeks whether to get involved in Israel’s war with Tehran. In the end, it took just days. Washington hit three Iranian nuclear sites early Sunday.
A number of world leaders have condemned the strikes, with US allies also calling for a return to the negotiating table.
While the amount of damage remained unclear, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US had “crossed a very big red line”, the time for diplomacy was over and Iran had the right to defend itself.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed” by the use of force by the United States, calling the strikes a “dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge”.
“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” he said in a statement on the social media platform X. “I call on Member States to de-escalate.”
“There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy.”
China also strongly condemned the US strikes on Iran, calling them a serious violation of international law that further inflamed tensions in the Middle East.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry urged all parties – especially Israel – to implement a cease-fire and begin dialogue.
“China is willing to work with the international community to pool efforts together and uphold justice and contribute to the work for restoring peace and stability in the Middle East,” the ministry said in a statement.
Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as deputy head of President Vladimir Putin’s Security Council, said several countries were prepared to supply Tehran with nuclear weapons.
He didn’t specify which countries but said the US attack caused minimal damage and would not stop Tehran from pursuing nuclear arms.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it “strongly condemned” the airstrikes and called them a “a gross violation of international law, the UN Charter, and UN Security Council resolutions”.
Pakistan blasted the US strikes as a “deeply disturbing” escalation just days after it nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomatic intervention with the India-Pakistan crisis.
“These attacks violate all norms of international law,” the government said in a statement. “Iran has the legitimate right to defend itself under the UN Charter.”
Europe on the sidelines
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for Iran to return to the negotiating table to diplomatically end the crisis, saying stability was the priority in the volatile region.
The UK, along with the European Union, France and Germany, tried unsuccessfully to broker a diplomatic solution in Geneva last week with Iran.
Starmer said Iran’s nuclear programme posed a grave threat to global security.
“Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat,” Starmer said.
The European Union’s top diplomat said Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, but she urged those involved in the conflict to show restraint.
“I urge all sides to step back, return to the negotiating table and prevent further escalation,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a post on social media.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, whose country is hosting a summit of NATO leaders including Trump on Tuesday and Wednesday, said the government’s national security council would meet later to discuss the issue.
He said the US attacks amounted to “a further escalation of a worrying situation in the Middle East”.
Shockwaves across the region
Some countries and groups in the region, including those that support Iran, condemned the move while also urging de-escalation.
The Iraqi government said the US’s military escalation created a grave threat to peace and security in the Middle East. It said it poses serious risks to regional stability and called for diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis.
“The continuation of such attacks risks dangerous escalation with consequences that extend beyond the borders of any single state, threatening the security of the entire region and the world,” government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said in the statement.
Saudi Arabia expressed “deep concern” about the US air strikes, but stopped short of condemning them.
“The Kingdom underscores the need to exert all possible efforts to exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions, and avoid further escalation,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia had earlier condemned Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and military leaders.
Qatar, which is home to the largest US military base in the Middle East, said it “regrets” escalating tensions in the Israel-Iran war.
Its Foreign Ministry in a statement urged all parties to show restraint and “avoid escalation, which the peoples of the region, burdened by conflicts and their tragic humanitarian repercussions, cannot tolerate”.
Qatar has served as a key mediator in the Israel-Hamas war.
Both the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hamas have condemned the US strikes.
In a statement on Sunday, the Houthi political bureau called on Muslim nations to join “the Jihad and resistance option as one front against the Zionist-American arrogance”.
Hamas and the Houthis are part of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance, a collection of pro-Iranian groups stretching from Yemen to Lebanon that for years gave the Islamic Republic considerable power across the region.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the US bombing could lead to a regional conflict that no country could bear and called for negotiations.
“Lebanon, its leadership, parties, and people, are aware today, more than ever before, that it has paid a heavy price for the wars that erupted on its land and in the region,” Aoun said in a statement on X. “It is unwilling to pay more.”
Pope Leo XIV made a strong appeal for peace during his Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s square, calling for international diplomacy to “silence the weapons.”
Pope Leo urged every member of the international community to take up their moral responsibility to “stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss”.
