Russia, China Slam US for Middle East Strikes

By Staff, Agencies

Russia and China have slammed the United States for its recent air strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria.

The two countries accused Washington of raising the risk of regional escalation at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council late on Monday. Moscow also asserted that the US decision to launch the attacks was linked to the upcoming presidential election in November.

Russia had requested the council meeting after the US launched dozens of strikes against targets in Iraq and Syria. The attacks followed a drone strike on a US base in Jordan that killed three soldiers.

Moscow’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia viewed that the strikes were a US attempt to “flex its muscles”. It was also fueled, he claimed at the UNSC, by a desire to influence its domestic political landscape and shore up the “disastrous” image of President Joe Biden’s administration.

“The attacks, which killed several dozen people, including civilians, demonstrate Washington’s complete disregard for international law,” Nebenzia added.

He also accused the US of seeking to draw Middle Eastern powers, including Iran, into a regional conflict.

Syria joined Russia in pointing at domestic US politics as a motive for the strikes. Envoy Koussay Aldahhak said Damascus rejects states being used as a “platform for US election campaigns and for displaying a brute force that undermines the principles of collective security”.

China also condemned the attacks. Beijing’s ambassador Zhang Jun echoed the concern about escalating tensions.

“The US purports that it does not seek to create conflicts in the Middle East or anywhere else, but in reality, it does precisely the opposite,” he said, noting that “The US military actions are undoubtedly stoking new turmoil in this region and further intensifying tensions.”

Saeid Iravani, the ambassador for Iran, said the US attacks had violated international law and displayed a “desperate attempt” to distract attention away from the root cause of current regional turmoil – ‘Israel’s’ US-backed war on Gaza that has martyred more than 27000 Palestinians.

 “Claims that Iran’s bases in Iraq and Syria were attacked are rejected as unfounded and regarded as attempts to shift attention away from the US aggressive actions,” he said, pointing out that “It is evident to everyone that the root causes in the region are occupation, aggression and continued genocide and horrific atrocities committed by ‘Israel’, and fully supported by the US, against innocent Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.”