By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif on Wednesday called for urgent talks to end the ongoing missile attacks between Tehran and Tel-Aviv as the Iran-Israel crisis continued into a 6th day.
OHCHR stated in a press release that Israel began targeting nuclear and military sites across Iran last Friday, prompted a barrage of retaliatory strikes on Israeli cities.
“The UN human rights office urges de-escalation and urgent diplomatic negotiations to end these attacks and find a way forward,” said Ms. Al-Nashif.
“We are following closely and are aware of reports that many thousands of residents are fleeing parts of the capital, Tehran, as a result of warnings covering broad areas.”
The latest reports from the region indicated that over 200 people have been killed in Iran and 24 in Israel to date. The violence continued unabated overnight in both countries, it added.
He highlighted serious concerns that populated areas have been hit in the escalation between Iran and Israel crisis, while addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva to discuss Iran’s rights record,.
“It is imperative that both sides fully respect international law, in particular by ensuring the protection of civilians in densely populated areas and of civilian objects,” she said.
“We urge all those with influence to engage in negotiation as a matter of priority.”
UN nuclear watchdog agency IAEA said that two Iranian centrifuge production facilities had suffered major damage after being targeted.
“The TESA Karaj workshop and the Tehran Research Centre were hit,” it said in an update.
“At the Tehran site, one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested, the agency said
IAEA stated that at Karaj, two buildings were destroyed where different centrifuge components were manufactured”.
Iran’s Permanent Representative of Iran in Geneva Ambassador Ali Bahreini, condemned the Israeli strikes:
“There has been no violation worse than [the] 13 June act of aggression against Iran,” he said.
He pointed to “continuous blind attacks on residential areas, bombardment of vital supplies, explosion of drinking water resources and reckless strikes on nuclear facilities are immediately impacting the civilians and people of Iran.”
Ambassador Ali Bahreini added that such “deliberate targeting” of his country’s nuclear facilities risked exposing local communities to a “possible hazardous leak”.
He said “This is not an act of war against our country, it is war against humanity.”
Mr. Bahreini called for accountability and international condemnation of the Israeli attacks.
“This impunity must come to [an] end,” he said. “Israel activities are not just against one or two countries. It is acting against all humanity and their actions target all human rights,” he concluded.
