Meanwhile, at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Gulf states affected by Iranian retaliatory attacks with ballistic missiles and drones condemned the attacks on their sovereignty and urged Tehran to stop any “hostile escalation” that could jeopardize regional stability.
To date, missile attacks have been reported in Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in addition to Israel, whose military responded to Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon on Monday.
There are indications that 550 civilians have been killed in Iran since the country was attacked on Saturday. The targets include Tehran’s Gandhi Hospital, which was damaged on Sunday, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said, citing reports.
“It serves as a reminder that every effort must be made to prevent health facilities from being caught up in the ongoing conflict. Health facilities are protected by international humanitarian law,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in an online post.
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in the Swiss city, Shahad Matar of the United Arab Emirates alleged that Iranian strikes since Saturday, February 28, had killed three civilians and injured 58 more. “This flagrant and cowardly attack is a violent… flagrant violation of our sovereignty, international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” Ms. Shahad insisted.
Echoing those comments, Naser Abdullah HM Alhayen for Kuwait condemned the Iranian missile attacks and affirmed the country’s right to defend its territory and its people, in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
Update on deadly school strike
In response, Iran told the Human Rights Council that the country continued to be subject to “indiscriminate and invasive” attacks, a day after Tehran confirmed the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an attack on the Supreme Leader’s compound in the capital.
“In recent days, schools have been bombed, hospitals have come under indiscriminate attack, civilian leaders, including the Supreme Spiritual and Religious Leader, have been killed, and the headquarters of the Iranian Red Crescent, along with many other non-military buildings, have been destroyed,” said Iran’s Ali Bahraini.
Responding to reports that a primary school was attacked on Saturday in Minab, southern Iran, Bahraini said more than 160 girls had been killed.
Threat of further escalation
“The ongoing illegal military aggression against Iran exemplifies the dominance of pure power over human rights principles,” the Human Rights Council heard.
Earlier on Monday, Iran also sent a letter to countries attending the U.N. Disarmament Conference meeting in Geneva on Monday, insisting on its right to self-defense “as long as the aggression lasts.”
All US military “bases, facilities and assets” are now “legitimate targets” as a result of the “war of aggression,” Iran’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva insisted.
Fears of nuclear incidents
Back in Vienna, IAEA chief Grossi underlined the risk of a nuclear incident due to military escalation, as Iran “and many other countries in the region that have been targeted by military attacks have operational nuclear power plants and nuclear research reactors.”
At a special meeting of the IAEA Board in the Austrian capital, Grossi said radiation levels had remained normal in countries bordering Iran since the bombing began.
And when the Israeli army began launching attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, Grossi urged “maximum restraint in all military operations.”
He noted that the United Arab Emirates has four operating nuclear reactors, while Jordan and Syria have operating nuclear research reactors. “Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have also been attacked,” he said, stressing that “they all use nuclear applications of one type or another.”