UNITED NATIONS, Wednesday, June 18, 2025 : As the Iran-Israel conflict entered its sixth consecutive day, the United Nations\u2019 Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif, on Wednesday issued a strong call for urgent diplomatic dialogue to halt the ongoing missile strikes between Tehran and Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n
The conflict escalated last Friday when Israel launched targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities, triggering a wave of retaliatory attacks from Iran on Israeli cities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UN Human Rights Office urges de-escalation and immediate diplomatic negotiations to stop the violence and find a sustainable path forward,\u201d Al-Nashif told the Human Rights Council in Geneva during a session reviewing Iran\u2019s human rights record. \u201cWe are closely monitoring the situation and have received alarming reports that thousands of residents are fleeing parts of Tehran due to widespread evacuation alerts.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the latest casualty figures, over 200 people have been killed in Iran and 24 in Israel since hostilities began. Both countries witnessed sustained overnight attacks, with reports of damage to civilian infrastructure in densely populated areas.<\/p>\n
\nMs. Al-Nashif stressed the need for all parties to adhere strictly to international humanitarian law: \u201cIt is imperative that both sides respect the laws of war, particularly the obligation to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n
She also urged all international actors with influence over the conflicting parties to prioritize diplomatic engagement to prevent further loss of life.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in a related development, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that two major Iranian nuclear facilities\u2014TESA Karaj and the Tehran Research Centre\u2014suffered significant damage in Israeli strikes.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAt the Tehran site, a building involved in the manufacturing and testing of advanced centrifuge rotors was hit,\u201d the IAEA said. \u201cAt Karaj, two buildings used to manufacture various centrifuge components were completely destroyed.\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Addressing the Council after Ms. Al-Nashif, Iran\u2019s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ali Bahreini, strongly condemned the Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been no graver violation than the act of aggression committed on 13 June,\u201d Bahreini declared. \u201cIndiscriminate bombings of residential neighborhoods, targeting of water resources, and deliberate strikes on nuclear sites are directly endangering civilians and essential infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
He warned that such attacks on nuclear facilities could lead to dangerous radioactive leaks, saying, \u201cThis is not merely an act of war against a state, it is a war against humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAmbassador Bahreini also criticized the global community\u2019s silence, calling for international accountability and firm condemnation of Israel\u2019s actions. \u201cThis impunity must end,\u201d he said. \u201cIsrael is not just attacking a country\u2014it is attacking the very fabric of human rights and the principles of humanity.\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The Council session proceeded without Israeli participation, as Israel had withdrawn from the UN human rights body earlier this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, Wednesday, June 18, 2025 : As the Iran-Israel conflict entered its sixth consecutive day, the United Nations\u2019 Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif, on Wednesday issued a strong call for urgent diplomatic dialogue to halt the ongoing missile strikes between Tehran and Tel Aviv. The conflict escalated last Friday when Israel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-middle-east","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}