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STORY: UN / US ISRAEL IRAN
TRT: 08:06
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / ARABIC / RUSSIAN / NATS
DATELINE: 28 FEBRUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
28 FEBRUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, Secretary-General António Guterres addressing Council
4. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We are witnessing a grave threat to international peace and security. Military action carries the risk of igniting a chain of events that no one can control in the most volatile region of the world. Let me be clear, there is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Lasting peace can only be achieved through peaceful means, including genuine dialog and negotiations.”
5. Med shot, Iranian Ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The military action is expanding rapidly across the region, creating an increasingly volatile and unpredictable situation and heightening the risk of miscalculation.”
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Preparations had been made for technical talks in Vienna next week, followed by a new round of political talks. I deeply regret that this opportunity of diplomacy has been squandered.”
8. Med shot, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The region and the world need a way out now. I call for de escalation and an immediate cessation of hostilities. The alternative is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability. I strongly urge all parties to return immediately to the negotiating table, notably on the Iran nuclear program.”
10. Wide shot, Council
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Bahrain:
“The Kingdom of Bahrain strongly condemns these acts of aggression, which represent an unprecedented escalation. We reaffirm that targeting our territories, our vital facilities, and residential buildings is a hostile act that is rejected, and we will deal with it firmly.”
12. Med shot, Guterres
13. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“Washington and West Jerusalem's actions are nothing other than yet another unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state in violation of the charter of the organization and of the fundamental principles of international law. They are openly aimed at further interfering in the internal affairs of Iran and at destroying a state that is that has found disfavor with the West.”
14. Wide shot, Council
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Waltz, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“This is a moment in history that requires moral clarity, and President Trump has met the moment. The most fundamental duty of any sovereign government is the protection of its people. Operation epic Fury is directed towards specific and strategic objectives, to dismantle missile capabilities that threaten allies, to degrade naval assets used to destabilize international waters and to disrupt the machinery that arms proxy militias, and to ensure the Iranian regime never, ever can threaten the world with a nuclear weapon.”
16. Med shot, Iravani
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Waltz, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“Where the UN lacks moral clarity, the United States of America will maintain it. Indiscriminate and unprovoked attacks by the Iranian regime today against our regional partners, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and others, reinforce precisely why such actions are necessary.”
18. Wide shot, Council
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Waltz, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“Peace is not preserved by appeasing those who threaten it. Peace is preserved through strength in the face of terror. History has taught us that the cost of inaction is far greater than the burden of decisive action, and our president, President Trump, has taken that decisive action today.”
20. Wide shot, Council
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Amir-Saeid Iravani, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Iran:
“In addition to the many civilian residential buildings, the aggressors have also targeted a school in the city of Minab, Hormozgan province, killing more than 100 children. The number of innocent civilians continues to rise. This is not only an act of aggression, it is a war crime and a crime against humanity. The justifications advanced by the representative of the United States today are illegal and entirely devoid of legal foundation. The baseless allegations invoked to defend this unlawful use of force have no standing under international law. The invocation of preemptive attack, claims of imminent threats, or other unsubstantiated political claims cannot legitimize aggression.”
22. Med shot, Waltz
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Amir-Saeid Iravani, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Iran:
“Such claims are unfounded, legally, morally and politically, and they contradicted the clear principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
24. Wide shot, Council
25. SOUNDBITE (English) Amir-Saeid Iravani, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Iran:
“The United States and Israel’s war today is not merely a war against Iran, it is a war against the Charter of the United Nations, a war against international law, and a war against the international legal order upon which the United Nations and the Security Council have been built for over eight decades.”
26. Wide shot, Council
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Israel:
“Israel stands before you today, having acted with the United States to confront and stop an existential threat before it became irreversible. The operation targets, nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile sites, the machinery of repression that fuels terror across our region. We did not act out of impulse. We did not act out of aggression. We acted out of necessity. Diplomacy was exhausted.”
28. Med shot, Waltz
29. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Israel:
“Iran was required to stop enriching uranium, stop heavy water projects, stop developing nuclear capable missiles and allow full inspections. Iran did none of it. Instead, it fortified its nuclear facilities so we cannot get to them, accelerated missile production and continued to fund terror.”
30. Wide shot, end of Council session
31. Wide shot, Danon at stakeout podium
32. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Israel:
“Today, unfortunately, we have heard condemnations from some members of this Council and from the UN Secretary General. That is hypocrisy. We all know when the real escalation began, it began when the Iranian regime armed proxies across the region, when it expanded missiles and drones, when it advanced its nuclear program in violation of all its commitments, and when it brutally slaughtered its own people.”
33. Pan right, Danon walks away
Following the United States’ and Israel’s attack on Iran, Secretary-General António Guterres today (28 Feb) told the Security Council that “the region and the world need a way out now,” and”strongly” urged all parties “to return immediately to the negotiating table, notably on the Iran nuclear program.
Guterres said, “we are witnessing a grave threat to international peace and security. Military action carries the risk of igniting a chain of events that no one can control in the most volatile region of the world.”
He said, “there is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Lasting peace can only be achieved through peaceful means, including genuine dialog and negotiations.”
The Secretary-General said, “military action is expanding rapidly across the region, creating an increasingly volatile and unpredictable situation and heightening the risk of miscalculation.”
He expressed regret that while preparations had been made for technical talks in Vienna next week, to be followed by a new round of political talks, “this opportunity of diplomacy has been squandered.”
Guterres called for “deescalation and an immediate cessation of hostilities,” stressing that the alternative “is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.”
The Ambassador of Bahrain, Jamal Fares Alrowaiei told the Council his country had been targeted by Iran and said, “the Kingdom of Bahrain strongly condemns these acts of aggression, which represent an unprecedented escalation. We reaffirm that targeting our territories, our vital facilities, and residential buildings is a hostile act that is rejected, and we will deal with it firmly.”
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya for his part said, “Washington and West Jerusalem's actions are nothing other than yet another unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state in violation of the charter of the organization and of the fundamental principles of international law. “
Nebenzia said, They are openly aimed at further interfering in the internal affairs of Iran and at destroying a state that is that has found disfavor with the West.”
United States Ambassador Mike Waltz said, this was “a moment in history that requires moral clarity, and President Trump has met the moment.”
Waltz said Operation epic Fury was “directed towards specific and strategic objectives, to dismantle missile capabilities that threaten allies, to degrade naval assets used to destabilize international waters and to disrupt the machinery that arms proxy militias, and to ensure the Iranian regime never, ever can threaten the world with a nuclear weapon.”
He said, “where the UN lacks moral clarity, the United States of America will maintain it. Indiscriminate and unprovoked attacks by the Iranian regime today against our regional partners, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and others, reinforce precisely why such actions are necessary.”
The US Ambassador said, “peace is not preserved by appeasing those who threaten it. Peace is preserved through strength in the face of terror. History has taught us that the cost of inaction is far greater than the burden of decisive action, and our president, President Trump, has taken that decisive action today.”
Iranian Ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani told the Council that “in addition to the many civilian residential buildings, the aggressors have also targeted a school in the city of Minab, Hormozgan province, killing more than 100 children, and added that “the number of innocent civilians continues to rise.”
Iravani said this was “not only an act of aggression, it is a war crime and a crime against humanity” stressing that “the justifications advanced by the representative of the United States today are illegal and entirely devoid of legal foundation.”
He said, “such claims are unfounded, legally, morally and politically, and they contradicted the clear principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
He said, “the United States and Israel’s war today is not merely a war against Iran, it is a war against the Charter of the United Nations, a war against international law, and a war against the international legal order upon which the United Nations and the Security Council have been built for over eight decades.”
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon, for his part said, “Israel stands before you today, having acted with the United States to confront and stop an existential threat before it became irreversible.”
Danon said, “we did not act out of impulse. We did not act out of aggression. We acted out of necessity. Diplomacy was exhausted.”
He said, “Iran was required to stop enriching uranium, stop heavy water projects, stop developing nuclear capable missiles and allow full inspections. Iran did none of it. Instead, it fortified its nuclear facilities so we cannot get to them, accelerated missile production and continued to fund terror.”
Outside the Council Danon told reporters that “today, unfortunately, we have heard condemnations from some members of this Council and from the UN Secretary General. “
He said, “that is hypocrisy. We all know when the real escalation began, it began when the Iranian regime armed proxies across the region, when it expanded missiles and drones, when it advanced its nuclear program in violation of all its commitments, and when it brutally slaughtered its own people.”
