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STORY: UN / MIDDLE EAST SITUATION
TRT: 07:17
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 02 OCTOBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN Headquarters
02 OCTOBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Wide shot, Secretary-General António Guterres addressing Council
4. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The raging fires in the Middle East are fast becoming an inferno. Exactly one week ago, I briefed the Security Council about the alarming situation in Lebanon. Since then, things have gone from bad to much, much worse.”
5. Med shot, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“In the few short days since then, we have seen a dramatic escalation – so dramatic that I wonder what remains of the framework this Council established with resolution 1701.”
7. Med shot, Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon representatives
8. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in position, and the UN flag continues to fly despite Israel’s request to relocate.”
9. Med shot, French Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière
10. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The safety and security of all UN personnel must be ensured.”
11. Med shot, United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
12. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“As should have been obvious yesterday in the context of the condemnation I expressed -- I again strongly condemn yesterday’s massive missile attack by Iran on Israel. And these attacks paradoxically do nothing to support the cause of the Palestinian people or reduce their suffering.”
13. Med shot, Danon
14. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The events of the past week, the past month, and indeed nearly the past year make it clear: It is high time for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, the effective delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and irreversible progress to a two-state solution. It is high time for a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, real action towards full implementation of Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1701, paving the way for diplomatic efforts for sustainable peace. It is high time to stop the sickening cycle of escalation after escalation that is leading the people of the Middle East straight over the cliff.”
15. Wide shot, Council
16. Wide shot, Thomas-Greenfield addressing Council
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“Thankfully, and through close coordination between the United States and Israel, Iran failed to achieve its objectives. This outcome does not diminish the fact that this attack, intended to cause significant death and destruction, marked a significant escalation by Iran. It does not negate the need for immediate Council action. This is a moment for this Council to speak out – with one voice – and condemn Iran for its unprovoked attack against another Member State. And equally important, to impose serious consequences on the IRGC for its actions.”
18. Med shot, Iran Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani
19. Wide shot, Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya addressing Council
20. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“Those who follow our work, know very well that 14 out of 15 members of the Security Council would have already undertaken the measures to compel parties to peace and would have saved this way the lives of thousands of innocent women, children and the elderly. And Israel would not have been able to act as brazenly and with such disregard to international law if they didn't feel themselves under an unequivocal and all around protection by the United States.”
21. Wide shot, Council
22. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“Today's news that the Secretary-General is a persona non grata in Israel is unheard of, and is a slap, not just on the UN but on all of us. We call on the members of the Security Council and the UN to react to this outrageous act.”
23. Wide shot, Lebanon’s Ambassador Hadi Hachem addressing Council
24. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hadi Hachem, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Lebanon:
“What is happening today, this unprecedented level of killing, displacement and destruction, this can no longer be tolerated or ignored. The policy of putting our heads in the sand faced with a confrontation with israel, is no longer useful. The children of the south and the southern suburbs of Beirut are sleeping on the streets. Mothers are carrying their children fleeing the horrors of the destructive strikes and missiles used against civilians.”
25. Wide shot, Danon addressing Council
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Israel:
“We are under attack. This was not just an escalation. It was a direct assault on our very existence. The world watched silently as Iran funded and directed attacks against us for the past year, arming and training their proxies for decades. And the international community sat quietly. The silence, the routine calls for de-escalation, only emboldened Iran.”
27. Med shot, Danon addressing Council
28. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Israel:
“To equate Israel, a nation simply wishing to live in peace, acting in defence of its people with an aggressor bent on our destruction is not just wrong. It is a grotesque and immoral distortion of reality. This is not a conflict between two equal sides. This is a battle between a sovereign country defending its right to exist and a regime that seeks nothing less than our extinction. And I repeat what I said last time. We have no border with Iran. We have no dispute with them. Ask yourself why they spend so much money and energy to build those rockets and to attack us.”
29. Wide shot, Iravani addressing Council
30. SOUNDBITE (English) Saeid Iravani, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Iran:
“Our invocation of the right of self-defence, followed by an extended period of restraint, reflects Iran responsible approach to regional and international peace and security at a time when the illegal action and genocide carried out by this occupying apartheid regime against the Palestinian people, as well as its repeated military aggression against Lebanon and Syria, continue. Iran's missile strikes were a necessary and proportionate response to Israeli continued terrorist aggressive acts over the past two months.”
31 Med shot, Nebenzya
32. Med shot, Thomas-Greenfield
33. Zoom out, endd of Council session
Secretary-General António Guterres today (18 Apr) told the Security Council that “the events of the past week, the past month, and indeed nearly the past year make it clear: It is high time for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” and an “irreversible progress to a two-state solution.”
Briefing the Council following the latest events in the region, Guterres warned that the raging fires in the Middle East are fast becoming an inferno.” In recent days, he said, “we have seen a dramatic escalation – so dramatic that he wondered “what remains of the framework this Council established with resolution 1701.”
The Secretary-General said peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) “remain in position, and the UN flag continues to fly despite Israel’s request to relocate and stressed that “the safety and security of all UN personnel must be ensured.”
Guterres, who was declared persona non grata over his response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel, said, “as should have been obvious yesterday in the context of the condemnation I expressed -- I again strongly condemn yesterday’s massive missile attack by Iran on Israel. And these attacks paradoxically do nothing to support the cause of the Palestinian people or reduce their suffering.”
He said it was “high time to stop the sickening cycle of escalation after escalation that is leading the people of the Middle East straight over the cliff.”
Iran launched approximately 200 ballistic missiles on Tuesday towards Israel. Since last October, more than 1,700 people have been killed in Lebanon -- including over 100 children and 194 women.
United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “thankfully, and through close coordination between the United States and Israel, Iran failed to achieve its objectives. This outcome does not diminish the fact that this attack, intended to cause significant death and destruction, marked a significant escalation by Iran. It does not negate the need for immediate Council action.”
Thomas-Greenfield said, “this is a moment for this Council to speak out – with one voice – and condemn Iran for its unprovoked attack against another Member State,” as well as to “impose serious consequences” on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran “for its actions.”
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya for his part said “14 out of 15 members of the Security Council would have already undertaken the measures to compel parties to peace and would have saved this way the lives of thousands of innocent women, children and the elderly. And Israel would not have been able to act as brazenly and with such disregard to international law if they didn't feel themselves under an unequivocal and all around protection by the United States.”
Nebenzya said “today's news that the Secretary-General is a persona non grata in Israel is unheard of, and is a slap, not just on the UN but on all of us. We call on the members of the Security Council and the UN to react to this outrageous act.”
Lebanese Ambassador Hadi Hachem told the Council that “this unprecedented level of killing, displacement and destruction, this can no longer be tolerated or ignored.”
Hachem said, “the policy of putting our heads in the sand faced with a confrontation with israel, is no longer useful. The children of the south and the southern suburbs of Beirut are sleeping on the streets. Mothers are carrying their children fleeing the horrors of the destructive strikes and missiles used against civilians.”
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said, “we are under attack. This was not just an escalation. It was a direct assault on our very existence.”
Danon said “the world watched silently as Iran funded and directed attacks against us for the past year, arming and training their proxies for decades. And the international community sat quietly. The silence, the routine calls for de-escalation, only emboldened Iran.”
The Israeli diplomat said that “to equate Israel, a nation simply wishing to live in peace, acting in defence of its people with an aggressor bent on our destruction is not just wrong. It is a grotesque and immoral distortion of reality.”
He said this was not “a conflict between two equal sides. This is a battle between a sovereign country defending its right to exist and a regime that seeks nothing less than our extinction.”
Iran Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani for his part said, “our invocation of the right of self-defence, followed by an extended period of restraint, reflects Iran responsible approach to regional and international peace and security at a time when the illegal action and genocide carried out by this occupying apartheid regime against the Palestinian people, as well as its repeated military aggression against Lebanon and Syria, continue.”
Iravani said, “Iran's missile strikes were a necessary and proportionate response to Israeli continued terrorist aggressive acts over the past two months.”
