UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th January, 2020) Moscow calls on parties to swiftly de-escalate tensions in the Persian Gulf to avoid a military confrontation with unpredictable consequences, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council on Thursday.
"As a result of the increasing confrontation, the [Gulf] region, and indeed the whole world is on the brink of conflict, the consequences of which should be unpredictable. We call for speedy de-escalation. The risk of conflict is too high, and the price is too high," Nebenzia said.
Iran launched a missile attack against two military bases housing US troops in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in response to a US airstrike that killed top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani several days prior. No casualties from either side were reported.
Nebenzia also expressed his concern over some countries tending to take unilateral actions and violate international law.
"The quintessence of all of these lamentable tendencies was the withdrawal of the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program, as approved by the Security Council," the diplomat added.
The tensions in the middle East have begun escalating in 2018 after the US withdrew from the JCPOA, and Tehran began steadily abandoning its obligations under the deal every 60 days. On Sunday, Iran announced that it had dropped out of all commitments and therefore had no more restrictions on its nuclear program.
