A spokesman for the United Nations warned world leaders against escalating tensions in the Middle East after President Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
Trump directed U.S. forces to kill the commander after weeks of escalating tensions following the killing of an American contractor and an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. The drone blast killed Soleimani, who was one of the highest-ranking generals under Iran’s ayatollah.
In a statement about the drone strike, Farhan Haq, a spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said, “The Secretary-General has consistently advocated for de-escalation in the Gulf. He is deeply concerned with the recent escalation. This is a moment in which leaders must exercise maximum restraint. The world cannot afford another war in the Gulf.”
Both the United States and Iran are member states of the U.N. Trump has been a critic of the organization, favoring nationalism over globalism.
Iran’s supreme leader has warned that “severe revenge awaits” the American forces responsible for killing Soleimani. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted that the decision to kill him was in direct response to an “imminent threat” against the American public.
