The UN Security Council convened an emergency session on Friday over the Iran-Israel conflict, amid strikes and counterstrikes.

The Council adjusted its original schedule to address the rapidly evolving crisis and also heard from the head of the UN-backed international nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Overnight from Thursday into Friday, Israeli military strikes targeted nuclear facilities across Iran, including the Natanz enrichment site.

Media reports indicated that the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, as well as several prominent nuclear scientists, were among those killed.

The strikes also caused significant damage, including reportedly dozens of civilian casualties, while airspace in the region has been largely closed and security forces are on high alert.

Additional Israeli strikes were reported late Friday local time as well as ballistic missile launches by Iran which have reportedly struck parts of Israel, including Tel Aviv.

Briefing the Council, Director General of IAEA, the UN-backed international nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, warned of the grave risks to regional stability and nuclear safety.

Mr Grossi said his agency was in constant contact with the Iranian Nuclear Regulatory Authority to assess the status of affected facilities and determine broader impacts on nuclear safety and security.

He said, “Iran has confirmed that at present, only the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant site has been attacked in today’s strikes. This facility contains the Fuel Enrichment Plant and the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant. At Natanz, the above-ground part of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60 per cent U-235, has been destroyed.”

The IAEA chief stated that nuclear facilities must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment.

He added, “Such attacks have serious implications for nuclear safety, security and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security. Grossi said IAEA had consistently underlined that “armed attacks on nuclear facilities could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the State which has been attacked. I reiterate that any military action that jeopardizes the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, emphasised Israel’s determination to dismantle Iran’s nuclear programme.

Mr Danon stated, “We know our enemies. We know their ideology. And when a regime builds ballistic missiles, enriches uranium to near weapons-grade, and openly declares its intent to destroy us, we believe them.”

UN Under-Secretary-General for political affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, said Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities marked a dangerous new escalation in the Middle East.

The top UN official told ambassadors that the repercussions of the attacks were already reverberating.

“I reaffirm the Secretary-General’s condemnation of any military escalation in the Middle East,” she said.

Ms DiCarlo urged both Israel and Iran to exercise maximum restraint and “avoid at all costs a descent into deeper and wider regional conflict.’’

(NAN)