Lebanon crisis: Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Iran urge immediate measures as Biden says US ‘working to de-escalate’

Even as President Joe Biden said that the US was trying to de-escalate situation in Lebanon after Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds killed at least over 350 people, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and Iran on Monday urged the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to take immediate measures to halt the violence.

“I’ve been briefed on the latest developments in Israel and Lebanon. My team is in constant contact with their counterparts, and we’re working to de-escalate in a way that allows people to return home safely,” Biden said as he held talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the White House.

Turkey warned that Israel’s attacks on Lebanon threatened to push the Middle East deeper into “chaos”.

“Israel’s attacks on Lebanon mark a new phase in its efforts to drag the entire region into chaos,” AFP quoted the foreign ministry as saying in a statement.

An outspoken critic of Israel’s offensive in response to the attack by Hamas militants that sparked the war, Turkey urged the international community to intervene.

“It is imperative that all institutions responsible for maintaining international peace and security, especially the United Nations Security Council, as well as the international community, take the necessary measures without delay,” the foreign ministry added.

“The countries that unconditionally support Israel are helping (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu shed blood for his political interests,” it said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is due to address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, is expected to focus on the Gaza war.

In Iraq, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called for an urgent meeting of Arab leaders during the UN General Assembly to address the escalating Israeli aggression in Lebanon.

“Iraq calls on and works to convene an urgent meeting of the leaders of Arab delegations… to review the repercussions of the Zionist (Israeli) aggression on our peaceful people in Lebanon and to work jointly to stop its criminal behaviour,” AFP quoted Sudani as saying in a statement.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry echoed these sentiments, urging international powers to intervene swiftly to stop the “dangerous Israeli escalation.” They warned that the situation could lead to a comprehensive regional war.

Meanwhile, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday accused Israel of seeking regional war, as he attempted to cast Tehran as restrained and appealed to the West for talks on flashpoint issues.

Pezeshkian, inaugurated in late July as a reformist within the cleric-run state, was visiting the United Nations as Israel steps up strikes in Lebanon on the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah, following a wave of explosions on handheld communication devices.

“We know more than anyone else that if a larger war were to erupt in the Middle East, it will not benefit anyone throughout the world. It is Israel that seeks to create this wider conflict,” Pezeshkian told a roundtable with journalists in New York.

Pezeshkian – whose hardline predecessor died in a helicopter crash – took office with calls for a better relationship with the West.

But tensions immediately soared as the visiting political chief of Hamas, the Palestinian militants who attacked Israel on October 7 last year, was assassinated in an operation in Tehran widely attributed to Israel.

Pezeshkian alluded to appeals from the West for Iran not to retaliate so as not to jeopardize US efforts for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

“We tried to not respond. They kept telling us we are within reach of peace, perhaps in a week or so,” he said.

“But we never reached that elusive peace. Every day Israel is committing more atrocities and killing more and more people – old, young, men, women, children, hospitals, other facilities,” AFP quoted him as saying.

He did not reply directly when asked if Iran would now respond more directly to Israel.

“We always keep hearing, well, Hezbollah fired a rocket. If Hezbollah didn’t even do that minimum, who would defend them?” he said.

“Curiously enough, we keep being labeled as the perpetrator of insecurity. But look at the situation for where it is.”

With inputs from agencies