Iran is prepared to de-escalate tensions with Israel provided that it agrees to stop further military moves against Tehran\u2019s interests, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said at the United Nations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran\u2019s legitimate defense and countermeasures have been concluded,\u201d Amir-Abdollahian told the U.N. Security Council Thursday. Israel \u201cmust be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests.\u201d If not, he said, Iran will \u201cgive a decisive and proper response\u201d that will make Israel \u201cregret its actions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amir-Abdollahian said that Iran\u2019s missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend was \u201climited and minimal,\u201d targeting only military bases. It was in response to an earlier Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate facility in Syria, he said. But Israeli officials have vowed to respond to the Iranian attack last weekend, even though the vast majority of incoming missiles and drones were stopped by Israel and allies including the U.S. and U.K.<\/p>\n
Amir-Abdollahian joined foreign ministers from countries including Jordan, Brazil and Spain in a high-level debate on the Middle East hours before a planned Security Council vote on Palestine\u2019s bid to become a full-fledged member of the U.N. Even if that measure draws support, the U.S. is expected to veto it.<\/p>\n
Amir-Abdollahian\u2019s first visit to New York since the escalation of tensions with Israel has stirred angst in the U.S., with a Republican lawmaker calling this week for the State Department to revoke his visa. Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the Iranian\u2019s movements would be strictly limited and \u201cI would not expect to see him, for example, snapping selfies on top of the Empire State Building.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier in the debate, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council the Middle East \u201cis on a knife edge,\u201d saying that the region can only find lasting peace once there\u2019s a resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. <\/p>\n
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