The United Nations Security Council convened an emergency session on February 28, 2026, hours after the United States and Israel launched large-scale military strikes across Iran. China and Russia sharply condemned the operation, while UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on all parties to halt military action and return to negotiations.
The emergency meeting was requested by five Security Council members — France, Colombia, Bahrain, China, and Russia — following the coordinated strikes, which targeted military installations, senior Iranian leadership, and nuclear-related facilities across multiple Iranian provinces. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and several Gulf states hosting US military facilities, including Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
UN Secretary-General Guterres addressed the council and condemned both the US-Israeli strikes and Iran's retaliatory attacks. He warned that military action risked triggering "a chain of events that nobody can control in the most volatile region of the world" and called for an immediate return to diplomatic negotiations to prevent the conflict from widening.
China's UN Ambassador Fu Cong described the strikes as "brazen" and expressed serious concern over the sudden escalation of regional tensions. Fu Cong backed Russia's call for a return to diplomatic negotiations and emphasised that Iran's sovereignty must be respected. Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia was sharper in his condemnation, calling the strikes an "unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN Member State" and demanding that the United States and Israel immediately cease military operations.
US Ambassador Mike Waltz defended the strikes as lawful actions aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, citing decades of Iranian-backed attacks on US personnel, allies, and maritime commerce. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon described the operation as a necessary response to what he called an existential threat. Both ambassadors rejected charges of illegality.
Iran's UN Ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani told the council that the strikes had killed and injured hundreds of Iranian civilians, calling the operation a war crime and a crime against humanity. He accused the United States and Israel of premeditated aggression and urged the Security Council to act.
France, which was among the first countries to request the emergency session, called the escalation dangerous and urged de-escalation, while also criticising Iran's non-cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency over its nuclear programme. Britain denied direct participation in the strikes but acknowledged its forces were engaged in regional defensive operations.
No resolution or formal vote on the military action was introduced or adopted during the session. The House of Commons Library confirmed that as of the date of the meeting, the Security Council had not passed any formal measure addressing the strikes.
As of the close of the February 28 session, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been reported killed in the strikes by US President Donald Trump, though Iranian state media had not yet confirmed this at the time of the meeting. The broader regional situation remained highly volatile, with airspace closures, internet disruptions, and threats to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz adding to international concern.
Mohsin Rana
