World leaders urge talks in US- Iran war

BRUSSELS, Mar 01(AP/AFP): World leaders urged peace and a return to talks as the military strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran raised concerns about whether the violence could spread across the region and tensions rose with Iran vowing devastating blows after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Top diplomats from the 27 European Union nations are holding an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the situation around Iran and the next steps for the bloc. The United Nations Security Council met late Saturday.

UN urges negotiations

in Iran-US conflict

The United Nations' rights chief deplored Saturday's strikes in the Middle East and urged all parties to return to negotiations, saying attacks would only result in "death, destruction and human misery".

"I deplore the military strikes across Iran this morning by Israel and the United States of America, and the subsequent retaliatory strikes by Iran," Volker Turk said in a statement.

"As always, in any armed conflict, it is civilians who end up paying the ultimate price.

"Bombs and missiles are not the way to resolve differences but only result in death, destruction and human misery.

"To avert these terrible consequences for civilians, I call for restraint and implore all parties to see reason, to de-escalate, and for a return to the negotiating table where they had been actively seeking a solution only hours earlier," he said.

"Failing to do so risks an even wider conflict, that will inevitably lead to further senseless civilian deaths and destruction on a potentially unimaginable scale, not just in Iran but across the Middle East region."

Middle East attacks igniting 'dangerous chain reaction': Red Cross chief

The military escalation in the Middle East is sparking a dangerous chain reaction across the entire region, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Saturday.

ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric called on countries to respect the rules of war and urged them to find the political will to prevent "further death and destruction".

"The military escalation in the Middle East is igniting a dangerous chain reaction across the region, with potentially devastating consequences for civilians," Spoljaric said in a statement.

"Upholding the rules of war is an obligation and not a choice. In international armed conflicts, international humanitarian law, in particular all four Geneva Conventions, apply."

Iran welcomes Indonesia offer to mediate US-Iran conflict

Iran's embassy in Jakarta said Sunday it welcomed Indonesia's offer to mediate between Washington and Tehran, following US and Israeli strikes against Iran.

Indonesia's foreign ministry said on Saturday that President Prabowo Subianto was willing to travel to Tehran to carry out mediation if agreed by both parties.

The Iranian embassy welcomes "the readiness of the President of the Republic of Indonesia to mediate in this conflict", the mission said in a statement.

The embassy also "emphasized the importance of taking a firm stance by Indonesian officials in condemning the aggression and crimes of the United States and the Zionist regime of Israel".

Iranian state television confirmed the death of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he had been killed.

The confirmation came after the United States and Israel launched waves of air strikes Saturday against targets in Iran, prompting retaliation by the Islamic republic.

Trump said Sunday that Washington would hit Iran with "force that has never been seen before" if it retaliated against US and Israeli strikes.

Iran judiciary confirms deaths of Guards chief,

top security official

Iran's judiciary confirmed on Sunday that US and Israeli strikes killed the chief of the Revolutionary Guards and another top security advisor.

The Guards' commander, General Mohammad Pakpour, and Ali Shamkhani, the head of the national defence council, were "martyred" in Saturday's attacks, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan online news portal reported.

EU, G7 ministers

meet over Iran

Italy said foreign ministers of the EU and G7 countries held talks on Saturday and Sunday following a massive attack by Israel and the United States against Iran.

"Contacts with our partners will take place this evening and tomorrow at the meetings scheduled at foreign minister level within both the G7 and the European Union," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office said in a statement.

The Group of Seven world powers includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US.