Iran 'will be held responsible' for any further actions against the US or Israel, says deputy ambassador

U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood on Sunday strongly condemned the Iranian attack on Israel and warned that Iran will be held responsible for any further actions taken against the United States, Israel or their allies.

“Let me be clear — if Iran or its proxies take actions against the United States or further action against Israel, Iran will be held responsible,” Wood said, in his remarks at a U.N. Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East.

“The United States is not seeking escalation. Our actions have been purely defensive in nature,” he added.

In his remarks, Wood placed blame squarely on Iran, saying, “Iran’s intent was to cause significant damage and death in Israel,” and that “Iran’s reckless actions not only posed a threat to populations in Israel, but also to other U.N. member states in the region, including Jordan and Iraq.”

“The Security Council has an obligation to not let Iran’s actions go unanswered,” Wood said.

Wood said the United States would be considering, in the coming days, various ways to respond at the U.N. and called for the Security Council to immediately and “unequivocally condemn Iran’s aggressive actions and call for Iran and its partners and proxies to cease their attacks.”

“The United States also supports Israel’s exercise of its inherent right to defend itself in the face of this attack, and as President Biden stated, we will remain in close contact with Israel’s leaders,” he added.

The remarks came after Iran on Saturday launched about 350 missiles and drones at Israel, most of which were intercepted by Israeli, U.S. and allied forces. The U.S. has condemned the attack and reiterated its support for Israel.

President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone Saturday.

“I’ve just spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu to reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel,” Biden said in a statement. “I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks — sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel.”