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STORY: UN / ISRAEL DANON PRESSER
TRT: 04:20
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 JUNE 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters
16 JUNE 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Israeli ambassador is preparing to walk up to the stakeout area
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent, Representative to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Israel:
“In the past 48 hours, Iran has launched over 1,000 missiles and drones directly at Israeli civilians. They targeted every major population center in the north, center, and south of Israel: Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bat Yam. On Saturday night alone, ten people were murdered, including five Ukrainian nationals who were visiting Israel. You can look at this photo from a building in Bat Yam, which is a city south of Tel Aviv. This building was hit by a direct missile strike. Several civilians were killed, two of them were children. Their attacks on our civilians have left 23 dead and more than 600 injured. Last night, eight more people were murdered and almost 300 injured. Similar pictures like this one we saw in the cities of Bnei Brak, Haifa, and Petah Tikva. Iran's goal is to kill as many civilians as possible. They are not hiding it. They are boasting about it. That is a moral line between us. Iran aims its missiles at children while we target the regime’s terror machine.”
4. Med shot, Danny Danon at the stakeout microphone, listening to a reporter’s question
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent, Representative to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Israel:
“So, we try to minimize and, yes, if we can give a warning to civilians to move from those areas, we are doing it, because we have nothing against the Iranian people. I want to be clear about it. We pray for the Iranian people. We care about the Iranian people. We know that they are oppressed by this regime, and we hope that the day will come that we can walk with them like what we did with them 46 years ago, before the revolution.”
6. Med shot, Danny Danon at the stakeout microphone, listening to a reporter’s question
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent, Representative to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Israel:
“We will not go into details, but we pushed back the nuclear program in the last few days, and we will continue with our efforts to push back the program. It's not, you know, a short operation. It’s not similar to what we did in the ‘80s in Iraq when we had to attack one reactor or in 2005 when we took care of the reactor in Syria. Much more challenging operation, and it takes time.”
8. Med shot, Danny Danon at the stakeout microphone, listening to a reporter’s question
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent, Representative to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Israel:
“You see the chants in Tehran, it’s not only “Death to Israel.” It is also “Death to America.” You see that Iran tried to assassinate not only our Prime Minister with a drone, they also tried to assassinate President Trump. So, Iran is a threat not only to Israel. And I see many countries realize that, and you can hear it in private talks with many PRs here that are actually thankful for Israel for fulfilling this task, of dealing with this terror regime.”
10. Med shot, Danny Danon at the stakeout microphone, listening to a reporter’s question
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent, Representative to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Israel:
“Yes, so we need to see what the action of the Iranian regime is. Just to say, it’s not enough, because we saw in the last decades, they are a master of deception. They know how to play the game, how to buy time. So, if they really mean it, that they are willing to give away this machine of terror and destruction, then there would be a place for dialogue. But if they are trying to buy time to play the game, we are not there.”
12. Med shot, Danny Danon at the stakeout microphone, listening to a reporter’s question
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent, Representative to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Israel:
“You know, when you look at Gaza today, and there is suffering in Gaza, no one can ignore it, but who started it? There was a ceasefire on October 7. It was peaceful. Hamas started it. When you look at what happened with Lebanon and Hezbollah, they started to join Hamas and started a fight with us. And when you look at Iran today, they decided to spend billions of dollars on nuclear capabilities and ballistic missiles in order to exterminate Israel. So yes, we are taking action to protect ourselves and we’ll continue to do that.”
14. Wide shot, Israeli ambassador leaves the stakeout area
“Iran aims its missiles at children while we target the regime’s terror machine,” Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said.
Speaking to reporters today (16 Jun), Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Danny Danon, said Iran had launched more than 1,000 missiles and drones at Israeli cities over the past two days.
“In the past 48 hours, Iran has launched over 1,000 missiles and drones directly at Israeli civilians,” Danon said. “They targeted every major population center in the north, center, and south of Israel: Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bat Yam.”
He added, “On Saturday night alone, ten people were murdered, including five Ukrainian nationals who were visiting Israel.” Displaying an image of a destroyed residential building, Danon said, “This building was hit by a direct missile strike. Several civilians were killed, two of them were children.”
He continued, “Their attacks on our civilians have left 23 dead and more than 600 injured. Last night, eight more people were murdered and almost 300 injured. Similar pictures like this one we saw in the cities of Bnei Brak, Haifa, and Petah Tikva.”
Danon said Iran “is boasting” about its attacks and added, “Iran's goal is to kill as many civilians as possible. They are not hiding it. That is a moral line between us.”
He also said Israel distinguishes between the regime and the Iranian people, “We try to minimize and, yes, if we can give a warning to civilians to move from those areas, we are doing it.” Danon said, “We have nothing against the Iranian people. I want to be clear about it. We pray for the Iranian people. We care about the Iranian people.”
Assessing the outcomes of the operation “Rising Lion” Danon said, “We pushed back the nuclear program in the last few days, and we will continue with our efforts.” He described the current campaign as “a much more challenging operation” compared to Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities in Iraq in the 1980s and Syria in 2005, adding, “It takes time.”
Responding to a question about potential U.S. involvement, Danon said the matter should be addressed by the United States, but added, “You see the chants in Tehran, it’s not only ‘Death to Israel.’ It is also ‘Death to America,’” Danon said. “They tried to assassinate not only our Prime Minister with a drone, they also tried to assassinate President Trump.”
Danon added that “many countries realize” the danger posed by Iran and said some diplomats privately “are actually thankful for Israel for fulfilling this task, of dealing with this terror regime.”
On the potential for diplomacy, Danon said, “Just to say, it’s not enough, because we saw in the last decades, they are a master of deception. They know how to play the game, how to buy time.” He said, “If they really mean it, that they are willing to give away this machine of terror and destruction, then there would be a place for dialogue. But if they are trying to buy time to play the game, we are not there.”
