UN Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Iranian Attack

Jerusalem, 14 April, 2024 (TPS) -- The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss Iran’s overnight attack on Israel, a spokesperson for the Council’s president confirmed on Sunday morning. The 200 drones and missiles launched marked Iran’s first direct attack on Israel.

Israel demanded an urgent meeting of the Security Council to “unequivocally condemn” Iran’s overnight attack.

In a letter to the President of the Security Council, currently held by Maltese Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan also called for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards to be designated as a terror organization.

“Iran’s attack is a significant threat to world peace and security. Iran even bragged about the attack, which is a serious and dangerous escalation,” Erdan said in a statement. He described the attack as a “clear violation of the U.N. Charter and international law,” adding, “The time has come for the Security Council to take concrete action against the Iranian threat.”

The drones were intercepted outside of Israeli airspace by the American and Jordanian militaries. The Israel Defense Forces said its Arrow-3 air defense system shot down dozens of ballistic missiles.

Only one person was injured in the barrage, a 10-year-old girl Bedouin who was injured by falling shrapnel from a missile near the Negev town of Arad. The IDF said that the Nevatim Air Force base near Beer-Sheva sustained minor damage. In the morning, the army released footage of jets taking off and landing there.

Sirens sounded in Jerusalem, northern Israel and the Negev, sending Israelis to shelter in safe rooms. Because ballistic missiles are intercepted at higher altitudes, shrapnel can fall over a wider area, the IDF said, explaining the widespread sirens.

Iran has vowed to avenge an airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1. Killed in the strike was Quds Force commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and seven other IRGC officers. The attack was widely attributed to Israel, though Jerusalem never confirmed this.