Emergency Meeting on the Military Escalation in the Middle East

This morning, several Council members requested the Council to convene to discuss these developments. France was the first Council member to request an emergency meeting following the US-Israeli strikes, which was subsequently supported by Colombia. Bahrain separately requested a briefing under the agenda item “The situation in the Middle East”, citing the Iranian strikes on several countries in the region. China and Russia, for their part, requested an emergency meeting under the “Threats to international peace and security” agenda item, citing “the unprovoked and reckless act of military aggression by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran”. Iran has also sent a letter to the Security Council asserting its right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter and requesting the Council to hold an “emergency meeting…to address the U.S. and Israeli regime’s acts of aggression [and] breach of the peace…and to take the necessary and immediate measures to halt this unlawful use of force and to ensure accountability” (S/2026/106). The UK (the Council’s president for February) eventually scheduled the meeting to be held under “The situation in the Middle East” agenda item. UN Secretary-General António Guterres is expected to brief.

This is the second time that the US and Israel have conducted strikes on Iran in the past year. After Israel launched an attack on Iran on 13 June 2025, Israel and Iran exchanged strikes for ten days, with the US bombing Iranian nuclear facilities on 21 June 2025. The current operation is much larger in scope and ambition, however.

Today’s US-Israeli strikes came after several weeks of US warnings of another potential attack against Iran. At the same time, US officials were pursuing talks with Iran aimed at achieving a negotiated solution to the country’s nuclear programme. Yesterday (27 February), Oman, which was mediating talks, claimed there was potential for a breakthrough with the possibility that Iran would not stockpile uranium; however, US President Donald Trump presented a more negative view of the negotiations, telling reporters that he was “not happy with the fact that they’re not willing to give us what we have to have”, referring to US demands that Iran dismantle its nuclear programme. Iran had said on 24 February that a deal was within reach but only if diplomacy was prioritised.