Security Council convenes emergency meeting on Iran-Israel tensions

On April 13, according to an announcement from the permanent delegation of Malta, the country holding the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council, the council will convene an emergency meeting on April 14 (US time) to discuss Iran's recent military action against Israel.

Earlier, in a post on social network X, the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations said he had requested the Security Council to hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the incident and sent a letter to the Maltese Ambassador to the United Nations, Vanessa Frazier.

On the same day, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry stressed that the country was "deeply concerned" about the escalating situation following Iran's military action against Israel.

According to a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry's website, China calls on relevant parties to remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalating tensions.

Beijing also believes that this spiral of tension is an "oil spill" from the conflict between the Islamist movement Hamas and Israel. Therefore, ending that conflict is a "top priority."

In a related development, Axios news site quoted a senior White House official as saying that US President Joe Biden had a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During the phone call, the US leader emphasized that Washington opposes any retaliatory moves by Israel against Iran.

Earlier, in the early morning of April 14 (Vietnam time), Iran launched a large-scale attack using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles towards Israel.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and many countries have expressed concern about the attack, calling on all parties to end hostilities and exercise maximum restraint to avoid actions leading to large-scale military confrontation on many fronts in the Middle East.