Israel, US will ensure Iran does not have nuclear capabilities, Israeli UN envoy says

Israel and the United States will not stop their operations against Iran until their objectives are met and will do everything necessary to ensure Tehran does not have nuclear capabilities, Israel’s ambassador to the UN said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in New York, the envoy, Danny Danon, accused Iran of “lashing out in desperation” militarily in response to what he called decisive and surgical US and Israeli strikes. He said he believed freedom for the Iranian people “will come sooner than later.”

Asked if Iranian nuclear sites would be among the targets, he said: “One of the goals of this joint operation is to make sure that they don’t have nuclear capabilities to threaten the entire world… We will do whatever is necessary to make sure they don’t have nuclear capability.”

Danon was also asked about Iranian state media reports blaming Israel and the US for a strike on a girls’ primary school in the southern Iranian town of Minab that Tehran has said killed more than 160 people.

Danon said he had seen different reports, including that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted the school.

“I don’t have the exact information, but I will tell you that we regret the loss of life of any civilian, and we pray for the people of Iran, but we have the intelligence and we target military assets. That’s what we do. The Iranians, they do exactly the opposite.”

Reuters could not independently confirm the reports.

On Saturday, the UN children’s agency, Unicef, issued a statement noting the Iranian reports and said the military escalation in the Middle East “marks a dangerous moment for millions of children in the region.” It echoed a call by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for an immediate cessation of hostilities.