Iran tells UN Israel ‘destroyed diplomacy’ ahead of nuclear talks

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ali Bahreini, has told the UN Security Council that the Israeli and US strikes on Iran were not isolated events but the outcome of what he called “politically motivated actions” by Washington and its European allies.

Speaking during a session on escalating tensions, Bahreini said Israel had “destroyed diplomacy” by launching an attack just two days before scheduled nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

He challenged Western expectations that Iran should return to talks, asking how it could return to something “it never left”.

Bahreini also accused Western powers of distorting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), saying it had been “manipulated into a political weapon … exploited as a pretext for aggression and unlawful action”.