Guterres urges maximum restraint as Iran-US tensions rise
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged maximum restraint and diplomatic solutions to end the war between Iran and the United States, warning that renewed sabre-rattling risks spiralling out of control.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged “maximum restraint and diplomatic solutions” to end the war between Iran and the United States, warning that renewed sabre-rattling risks spiralling out of control.
Speaking in Cairo on Monday, Guterres said it was “essential to stop any escalation” in the Middle East. “If the sabre-rattling we are witnessing now translates itself into a major mutual escalation, the situation in the region can get out of control,” he said.
He warned that the risk of “an overwhelming military attack [on] Iran and then an overwhelming attack by Iran to the countries of the Gulf” needed to be avoided at all costs, adding that the consequences would be unimaginable and would reach far beyond the region.
Guterres also insisted that navigational rights and freedoms, in accordance with international law, must be fully restored in and around the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb strait at the mouth of the Red Sea, both critical corridors for global trade.
He commended Egypt’s role in helping to create the conditions for dialogue between the United States and Iran. His intervention came as senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iranian officials in Tehran, with the Saudi Foreign Ministry saying the visit was intended to open negotiating channels to prevent a return to military escalation.
Guterres also expressed deep alarm at Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, where he said settlements are expanding, evictions are unrelenting and Palestinians continue to be driven from their lands amid surging settler violence. “The two-State solution remains the only viable path,” he said, with Gaza and the West Bank as integral parts of a Palestinian state and Jerusalem the capital.
Sources:
- https://news.un.org/en/audio/2026/10/1168671
- https://www.dawn.com/live/iran-israel-war
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/10/26/iran-war-live-trump-rules-out-strikes-today-israeli-forces-raid-hebron
- https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/2026-10-26/ty-article/saudi-arabia-turkey-and-pakistan-hold-de-escalation-talks-with-iran/000001a1-789f-dfb9-a5a9-fabfed900000
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