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USA warned Iran at the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday not to attack it or Israel, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the “deadly cycle of mutual violence must end” in the Middle East.

“Time is running out,” Guterres told the council.

The 15-member organization met after Israel killed a Hezbollah leader and launched a ground attack on the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, with the latter attacking Israel in an offensive that raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.

“Our actions were defensive in nature.“US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield reported this to the council.

“I want to be clear: the Iranian regime will be held accountable for its actions. And we strongly warn that Iran – or its allies – They should not take action against the US or Israel.“he stated.

France’s U.N. ambassador, Nicolas de Rivière, said France wants the Security Council to “show unity and speak with one voice” to reduce tensions. Thomas-Greenfield said the council should condemn Iran’s attack and impose “serious consequences” on Iran’s IRGC for its actions.

“We, as members of the Security Council, have a collective responsibility to impose additional sanctions on the IRGC for supporting terrorism and for violating so many of this Council’s resolutions,” the US ambassador said.

Guterres assured the Council that he strongly condemns Iran’s attack on Israel. Earlier on Wednesday, Israel’s foreign minister said he was banning Guterres from entering the country because he had failed to do so.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya praised Iran for its “exceptional” restraint in recent months and said the missile attack on Israel cannot be “presented as if it all happened in a vacuum, as if “nothing happened – and nothing happened – in Lebanon and Gaza, in Syria, in Yemen.”

“But it happened and led to a new and very dangerous spiral of expanding conflict in the Middle East,” Nebenzia said.

In a letter to the Security Council on Tuesday, Iran justified its attack on Israel as self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, citing Israel’s “aggressive actions”, including violations of Iranian sovereignty.

“Iran… in full compliance with the principle of distinction under international humanitarian law, attacked only military and regime security objectives with its defensive missiles,” Iran wrote to the Security Council.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon on Wednesday rejected Iran’s claim of self-defense.

“This was a calculated attack on civilians,” he told reporters before the council meeting. “Israel will not sit idly by in the face of such aggression. Israel will respond. Our response will be decisive and, yes, it will be painful, but unlike Iran, we will act in full compliance with international law.”

Reuters