UN leader Antonio Guterres urges Iran to give up nuclear weapons

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated on Wednesday that Iran must make it clear that it does not want to build nuclear weapons as a first step toward bettering relations with the United States and other nations in the region.

In addition, he urged nations to relax sanctions on Syria and expressed the hope that all Gazan parties would see the advantages of a long-term ceasefire that may pave the way for talks on a two-state solution.

Guterres stated, “The most relevant question is Iran and relations between Iran, Israel, and the United States,” when speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos about the Middle East crisis.

“Here my hope is that the Iranians understand that it is important to once and for all make it clear that they will renounce to have nuclear weapons, at the same time that they engage constructively with the other countries of the region.”

Rafael Grossi, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, mentioned the same subject at Davos, claiming that Iran is “pressing the gas pedal” to enrich uranium to almost weapons-grade levels.

Iran has consistently maintained that its program is completely harmless and that it is free to enrich uranium to any desired degree.

Although the truce in Gaza has so far been effective in bringing relief to the territory, Guterres cautioned against taking any further action in the future.

“There is a possibility of Israel feeling emboldened by the military successes to think that this is the moment to do the annexation of the West Bank and to keep Gaza in a kind of a limbo situation,” he stated.

“That would be a total violation of international law … and would mean there will never be peace in the Middle East.”

Sanctions in Syria

Beyond asserting that Hamas, an Islamist organization, cannot have any role in Gaza’s postwar future and that the Palestinian Authority, which partially runs the occupied West Bank, is untrustworthy under its current leadership, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not offered a clear vision for the region’s future.

Netanyahu described Tuesday’s attack on Jenin, a dangerous city in the West Bank, as a “large-scale and significant military operation” by Israeli security forces. Hamas urged Palestinians in the region to intensify their conflict with Israel.

The U.N. president expressed greater optimism regarding Lebanon, saying he thought the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was holding.

While stating that the new administration must yet demonstrate that it would represent all minorities, Guterres urged nations to lift their sanctions on Syria in order to aid in the country’s transformation following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

“We still have a strong risk of fragmentation and of extremism in at least parts of the Syrian territory,” he stated.

“It is in the interest of us all to engage to make things move in the direction of an inclusive form of governance and I think some gesture must be made in relation to the sanctions.”