US Ambassador Nikki Haley urged the UN Security Council on Wednesday to follow in the US footsteps and confront Iran over what she claimed to be its “aggressive, destabilizing and unlawful behavior” in the region. The council met for its monthly debate on the Middle East just days after US President Donald Trump refused to certify the Iranian nuclear deal, leaving its fate to the US Congress. “The United States has embarked on a course that attempts to address all aspects of [alleged] Iran’s destructive conduct,” Haley told the council, AFP reported. “It’s critical that the international community do the same.” Trump’s decision, wrongly premised on linking the nuclear deal with non-nuclear issues, has been sharply criticized by Washington’s partners in the deal, namely France, Britain, China and Russia, which sit on the Security Council as permanent members along with the US. Germany is also a signatory. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia tersely reminded Haley that the Middle East debate is aimed at tackling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that she “didn’t even mention the word Palestine”. Turning to Iran, Nebenzia warned that “attempts to dismantle the architecture of the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program will lead to a negative reaction in the Middle East and beyond.”
