Iran calls for UNSC meeting amid Israel airstrikes, backed by China, Russia

The UN Security Council is set to convene on Monday after Israel executed strikes against Iran in retaliation for Tehran's attack earlier this month.

The UNSC, which is for this month being chaired by Switzerland, said it is holding the emergency meeting at Iran's request, which has been backed by China, Algeria, and Russia.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in letters to the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Security Council President on Saturday, urged the world body to take a decisive stance considering the consequences of the "continuous and systematic" Israeli aggressions, Iranian state media IRNA reported.

He further urged the 15-member Security Council to condemn Israel's actions to send a message to the international community that such flagrant violations will not go unanswered.

Araghchi said that Israel, on October 26, morning launched a series of airstrikes targeting several sites in Khuzestan, Ilam, and around Tehran provinces. Iran's air defence system intercepted most of the missiles. Four Iranian military officers and a civilian were killed in the strikes.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Tehran was not looking for war with Israel but will respond "appropriately" to Israel's strikes on Saturday on Iranian military sites.

Major General Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Sunday said that four Iranian soldiers were killed. One civilian was also killed in the Saturday attack, IRNA reported.

Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Sunday said that it is upto the authorities to convey Iran's power to Israel and act in the country's interest and that Israel's airstrikes on Iran should not be magnified nor downplayed.

The Ayatollah said yesterday that while Israel would like to exaggerate the impacts of its actions against Iran, it would also not be right for Iran to dismiss the strikes as insignificant, Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

He also said that the Israeli regime has made miscalculations towards Iran, as it is yet to know the country and its people and understand the level of their power and determination. "We should make them understand all these," he said.

Iran's Supreme Leader also criticized the world, including some governments and the United Nations for failing to stop what the Israeli regime is doing in Gaza and Lebanon, which he described as the most brutal war crimes, the IRNA reported.

On Saturday, Israel simultaneously struck missile manufacturing facilities, surface-to-air missile arrays and other "aerial capabilities" in Iran CNN reported. Israel said later that the air attack had "concluded" its response to Iran's October 1 missile attack, saying its warplanes had returned safely and the mission was "fulfilled".

Iran's air force confirmed strikes on military bases in Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam provinces that "caused limited damage".