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iranintl – The US has proposed a draft UN Security Council resolution that says Israel has a right to defend itself and demands Iran stop arming “militias and terrorist groups.”
The draft text calls for the protection of civilians – including those who are trying to get to safety – notes that states must comply with international law when responding to “terrorist attacks”, and urges the “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip, according to Reuters.
It was not immediately clear if or when the United States planned to put the draft resolution to a vote. To pass, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Iran allies Russia, China.
There was no response by Tehran as of Sunday morning. Government media mentioned the news in passing, while it had less coverage of the conflict compared to previous days.
The move by the United States comes after it vetoed a Brazilian-drafted text on Wednesday that would have called for humanitarian pauses in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants, to allow aid access to Gaza.
Israel has vowed to wipe out the Hamas Islamist group that rules Gaza, after its gunmen burst through the barrier fence surrounding the enclave on October 7 and rampaged through Israeli towns and kibbutzes, killing 1,400 people.
Israel has since pounded Gaza from the air, imposed a siege and is preparing for a ground offensive. Palestinian authorities say more than 4,000 people have been killed in the enclave. The UN says more than a million have been made homeless.
Iranian regime officials throughout the week continued threatening to expand the war if Israeli attacks on Gaza do not stop. Iran’s intelligence chief, Esmail Khatib, warned the United Statesand other ‘supporters’ of Israel on Saturday that they would face a ‘harsh, fatal revenge’ from God and the people.
Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry, Nir Barkat, warned that Israel would take action not only against the Hezbollah but also against Iran if Hezbollah takes action against Israel on its northern border, claiming “we will go to the head of the snake, which is Iran”.
The US draft text does not call for any pause or truce in the fighting. It calls on all states to try and stop the “violence in Gaza from spilling over or expanding to other areas in the region, including by demanding the immediate cessation by Hezbollah and other armed groups of all attacks.”
Lebanon’s Iran-backed, heavily armed Hezbollah group has clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border multiple times since October 7 in the deadliest confrontations since they fought a month-long war in 2006.
SELF-DEFENSE
The US draft resolution demands Iran stops exporting arms to groups threatening peace and security across the region, including Hamas.
Iran has made no secret of its backing for Hamas, funding and arming the group and another Palestinian militant organization Islamic Jihad. Hamas officials have also confirmed that they received weapons from Iran and Hezbollah.
Article 51 covers the individual or collective right of states to self-defense against armed attack and states must immediately inform the 15-member Security Council of any action that states take in self-defense against armed attack.
In a letter sent the same day as the Hamas attack, Israel told the council it would “act in any way necessary to protect its citizens and sovereignty from the ongoing terrorist attacks originating from the Gaza Strip.” But it does not appear to have formally invoked Article 51, diplomats said.
Arab countries have argued that Israel cannot justify its actions as self-defense.
“The Gaza Strip is an occupied territory,” Jordan’s UN Ambassador Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud told the council on October 16, citing a 2004 opinion by the International Court of Justice on an Israeli separation barrier built around the West Bank.
With reporting by Reuters
