Follow Us on Google
By Goli Innocent
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has warned that the escalating conflict across the Middle East is pushing the region dangerously close to collapse, with the consequences already spreading across the world.
Speaking in Türkiye while receiving the Atatürk International Award for Peace, Guterres called for an immediate halt to hostilities and urged global powers to return to diplomacy. According to him, the situation now threatens international peace, global trade and humanitarian stability.
“Around the world, we hear much talk of peace, but we see far too little of it,” the UN chief said, warning that international norms were increasingly being ignored.
He added that global tensions were worsening as “international law continues to be trampled, power politics are gaining ground [and] inequalities are growing,” while new technologies such as artificial intelligence risk fuelling conflict instead of preventing it.
Other News
Guterres said the massive military strikes launched by the United States and Israel against Iran, and the retaliatory attacks that followed, have significantly worsened the crisis.
“The massive military strikes launched by the United States and Israel and the subsequent attacks by Iran on so many countries constitute a grave threat to international peace and security and has caused immense suffering for civilians,” he said, stressing that “the region is being pushed to the breaking point.”
He warned that the fallout from the conflict is already rippling across global markets, disrupting trade routes, pushing energy and food prices higher, and deepening instability worldwide. “As always, the most vulnerable are being hurt first and worst,” Guterres added.
Calling for urgent de-escalation, the UN chief concluded: “The region and the world desperately need an off-ramp,” stressing that dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path to peace.
