UNITED NATIONS (United States), June 13 (AFP): UN chief Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Iran to "show maximum restraint" after Israel's wave of air strikes, the secretary-general's spokesman said in a statement late Thursday.
While broadly condemning "any military escalation in the Middle East," the statement by Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq noted Guterres was "particularly concerned" by Israel's strikes on nuclear installations amid the ongoing US-Iran negotiations.
"The Secretary-General asks both sides to show maximum restraint, avoiding at all costs a descent into deeper conflict, a situation that the region can hardly afford," it added.
Riyadh, once a rival of Tehran before reconciling about two years ago, condemned a wave of strikes that Israel said it launched Friday against nuclear and military sites in Iran.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the blatant Israeli aggressions against the brotherly Islamic Republic of Iran, which undermine its sovereignty and security and constitute a clear violation of international laws and norms," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Emirates airline said flights to and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran had been cancelled, after Israel launched strikes on Iran on Friday, sparking concerns of a wider escalation.
Several flights scheduled for Friday and one Tehran flight on Saturday were listed as cancelled on the airline's website, with the Dubai international airport also reporting that "some flights at @DXB and DWC -- Al Maktoum International have been cancelled or delayed due to airspace closures over Iran, Iraq, and Syria" in a statement on X.
At least six nuclear scientists were killed in Israel's attacks on Iran, media outlets in the Islamic republic reported.
Tasnim news agency named the six scientists including Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, who was the president of the Islamic Azad University of Iran.
Fereydoun Abbasi, a former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was also among the scientists killed, it added. Friday's strikes hit multiple targets across Iran including residential buildings in Tehran as well as key nuclear enrichment facility in Iran's centre.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami and armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri were killed in the Israeli operation.
Iran's oil ministry said key refineries and fuel depots were unaffected by Israel's deadly attack on Friday, with operations continuing nationwide without disruption.
"No damage was caused to the country's refining facilities and oil depots, and currently the activities of these facilities and fuel supply are ongoing in all parts of the country without interruption," the ministry said in a statement. Israel declared a state of emergency on Friday, warning of reliatory action from Tehran after the Israelis launched a "preemptive strike" on Iran.
"Following Israel's preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate term," a statement from the Israeli defence ministry said.
"Therefore, and in accordance with his authority under the Civil Defense Law, Defence Minister Israel Katz has now signed a special order, according to which a special state of emergency will be imposed in the home front throughout the entire State of Israel."
Israeli attacks against Iran on Friday wounded at least 50 people, including women and children, state television in the Islamic republic reported.
"Following the Israeli attack, about 50 injured people were transferred to Chamran Hospital (in Tehran), at least 35 of whom are women and children," the broadcaster said, without announcing any deaths. US President Donald Trump told Fox News he was aware Israel was going to conduct strikes on Iran before it happened, and stressed that Tehran "cannot have a nuclear bomb," according to the US broadcaster.
His comments to Fox came after Israel pounded Iran in a series of air raids on Friday, striking 100 targets including nuclear and military sites.
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