NEW YORK, Mar 20 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday there are grounds to believe that war crimes may have been committed by both sides in the ongoing Middle East conflict.
The warning comes after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars natural gas field on Wednesday, prompting Tehran to launch a retaliatory strike against a major energy facility in Qatar.
“If there are attacks either on Iran or from Iran on energy infrastructure, I think that there are reasonable grounds to think that they might constitute a war crime,” Guterres told Politico in an interview.
He also highlighted the growing number of civilian casualties, saying both sides are vulnerable to potential accusations of war crimes.
“I don’t see any difference. It doesn’t matter who targets civilians. It is totally unacceptable,” he said.
Guterres stressed that ending the conflict depends on the political will of the United States. “The war needs to stop… and I believe that it is in the hands of the US to make it stop. It is possible, but it depends on the political will to do it,” he said.
The UN chief suggested that Israel’s strategy appears aimed at eliminating Iran’s military capabilities. He added that he had not spoken with US President Donald Trump since the launch of US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
On February 28, the United States and Israel carried out strikes on targets in Iran, including Tehran, causing civilian casualties and infrastructure damage. Iran responded with attacks on Israeli territory and US military facilities in the Middle East.
The US and Israel initially described the strikes as “preemptive,” aimed at countering the perceived threat from Iran’s nuclear program, but later indicated that they sought a change of power in Tehran.
(UNI)
The post Both sides in Middle East conflict may have committed war crimes: UN Chief appeared first on Daily Excelsior.