Source: United Nations (video statements)
Established in 1957 to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) is an autonomous part of the United Nations system with 180 member countries. The IAEA monitors nuclear facilities, reports on nuclear activities, oversees safety, urges diplomacy and promotes the use of nuclear technologies for a better future.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Statement to the Security Council by Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on threats to international peace and security.
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The nuclear non-proliferation regime that has underpinned international security for more than half a century is on the line.
The dramatic events in Iran have become even more serious with last night’s bombardments and the potential widening of the conflict.
We have a window of opportunity to return to dialogue and diplomacy. If that window closes, violence and destruction could reach unthinkable levels and the global non-proliferation regime as we know it could crumble and fall.
Iran, Israel, the Middle East need peace and there is a path for diplomacy.
We must return to the negotiating table and allow the IAEA inspectors, the guardians of the NPT, to go back to Iran’s nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium, including, most importantly, the 400kg enriched to 60%.
Any agreement, any arrangement will have as a pre-requisite the establishment of the facts on the ground. This can be done only through IAEA inspections. IAEA inspectors are in Iran, and they must do their job. This will require a cessation of hostilities so that Iran can let the teams into the sites under the necessary safety and security conditions.
Any special measures by Iran to protect its nuclear materials and equipment can be done in accordance with Iran’s safeguards obligations and the Agency. This is possible.
Madame President,
Based on information available to the IAEA, let me update you on what has occurred at Iran’s nuclear sites since I last addressed this Council three days ago.
Craters are visible at the Fordow site, Iran’s main location for enriching uranium to 60%, indicating the use by the United States of America of ground-penetrating munitions. This is consistent with statements from the US. At this time, no one – including the IAEA – is in a position to assess the underground damage at Fordow.
At the Esfahan nuclear site, additional buildings were hit overnight, with the US confirming their use of cruise missiles. Affected buildings include some related to the uranium conversion process. Also at this site, entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit.
At the Natanz enrichment site, the Fuel Enrichment Plant has been hit again, with the US confirming that it used ground-penetrating munitions.
Iran has informed the IAEA there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites.
The situation at the other sites remains as I described to the Council three days ago.
We continue to monitor the situation and encourage the Iranian regulator to maintain its indispensable contact with the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre.
Madame President,
The IAEA has consistently underlined, as stated in its General Conference resolution, that armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place and could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the State which has been attacked.
I therefore again call on maximum restraint. Military escalation threatens lives and delays a diplomatic solution for the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. It also threatens the global non-proliferation regime.
As I stated three days ago, I am ready to travel immediately and to engage with all relevant parties to help ensure the protection of nuclear facilities and the continued peaceful use of nuclear technology in accordance with the Agency mandate. With your support, the IAEA can deploy nuclear safety and security experts to Iran, in addition to our safeguards inspectors, wherever they are needed.
Madame President,
There is arguably no more important and universally supported endeavour than ensuring that we use the enormous power of the atom for good rather than destruction.
Let us not allow the window to close on diplomacy. Let us not allow the non-proliferation regime to fail.
Irrespective of individual positions and views, one thing is certain, and this is the simple truth: we will not be safer if there are more nuclear weapons in more states around the world.
The IAEA is ready to do its part to bring this military confrontation to an end.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
The Smurfs are joining forces with the United Nations ActNow campaign and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to encourage people, especially children, to Speak Up & Speak Out to empower themselves and others, and to create a blueprint for a better world. Rihanna, Hannah Waddingham, Billie Lourd and Amy Sedaris want you to know that everyone – every child – has the right to be treated fairly, and to speak up and be heard! Our voices all matter and we are loudest when we speak together. So, #ActNow! For more information, visit https://www.un.org/en/actnow. #ActNow
Source: United Nations (video statements)
The UN History of Innovation tells the story of a bold and revolutionary United Nations, throughout its history and for the future.
The UN History of Innovation is a journey through time that reveals a bold and often unexpected side of the United Nations—one defined by creativity, experimentation, and transformation. From early breakthroughs to present-day innovations, this initiative highlights how the UN has continuously adapted to meet the world’s evolving challenges. More than a retrospective, it invites reflection on the spirit of innovation that has shaped the Organization’s past—and the imagination needed to shape its future.
Produced by the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (UN DPPA)Innovation Cell.
https://dppa.un.org/en/innovation
https://futuringpeace.org/
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Fireside chat between Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, and H.E. Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, on transformative financing solutions — including how tackling the debt crisis, ensuring a fair-trade system, and reforming the global financial system can unlock transformative investments in sustainable development, for people and planet. The conversation will be moderated by Homi Kharas, Senior Fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development, Brookings.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
11th International Day of Yoga at the United Nations with the theme "Yoga for One Earth, One Health".
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Iran/Israel
Security Council/Afternoon
Ukraine
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Peacekeeping
Switzerland
Children and Armed Conflict
World Refugee Day
Sudan
Sri Lanka
International Days
Guests on Monday
IRAN/ISRAEL
Speaking to the Security Council this morning, the Secretary-General urged Israel and Iran to give peace a chance and warned Council members that we are not drifting toward crisis – we are racing toward it.
He said that the Non-Proliferation Treaty is a cornerstone of international security and Iran must respect it. The only way to bridge the trust gap with Iran, he added, is through diplomacy to establish a credible, comprehensive and verifiable solution – including full access to inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Mr. Guterres warned that the only thing that is predictable is that the consequences of continuing this conflict are unpredictable.
Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, told the Council that the scope and scale of attacks in Iran and Israel continue to widen, with grave consequences for civilians in both countries. The intensifying cycle of attacks and counterattacks has resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties, including fatalities, in both Iran and Israel.
She added that we are teetering on the edge of a full-blown conflict and a humanitarian crisis. International humanitarian law must be respected, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution in attack.
Ms. DiCarlo said that we welcome the talks between the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, the UK, and Iran in Geneva today. We strongly encourage such efforts. We must pursue every possible opportunity to de-escalate, to cease the hostilities, to settle disputes by peaceful means, she said.
Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the IAEA, told the Council that attacks on nuclear sites in Iran have caused a sharp degradation in nuclear safety and security there. Though they have not so far led to a radiological release affecting the public, there is a danger this could occur, he said.
Mr. Grossi said that he is ready to travel immediately and to engage with all relevant parties to help ensure the protection of nuclear facilities and the continued peaceful use of nuclear technology in accordance with the Agency mandate, including by deploying Agency nuclear safety and security experts wherever necessary.
SECURITY COUNCIL/AFTERNOON
At 3:00 p.m., the Security Council will reconvene for a briefing on Maintenance of Peace and Security of Ukraine. Miroslav Jenča, the Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia, and the Americas, and Edem Wosornu, the Director of Operations and Advocacy at OCHA, are expected to brief Council members.
UKRAINE
On Ukraine, our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that today, attacks in the cities of Kharkiv and Odesa killed and injured civilians, including children and first responders. This is according to local authorities. Homes, education facilities and utility pipelines were also damaged. Additional casualties were reported in the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, and Dnipro. In Odesa and Kharkiv, humanitarian organizations, supporting local responders, provided hot meals, emergency shelter and psychosocial support.
Meanwhile, an inter-agency humanitarian convoy today delivered vital aid to the community of Bilozerka in the region of Kherson, in the south of the country. The supplies included hygiene items, bed linen, kitchen sets, first aid kits and a charging station. The area remains under constant shelling, and thousands of residents need humanitarian aid. This was the second humanitarian convoy to reach front-line areas of the Kherson region this week. Our humanitarian colleagues note that some 9.4 million Ukrainians are still displaced inside the country or abroad—more than four years since the full-scale invasion and over a decade into the war that began in 2014. This includes 5.6 million refugees globally, according to the UN Refugee Agency. The International Organization for Migration says that another 3.8 million people remain internally displaced.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=20%20June%202025
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Last year, 41,370 grave violations against children were documented and verified by the United Nations, according to the Secretary-General’s annual report on children in armed conflict.
Speaking to reporters today (20 Jun), Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba told reporters that the 41,370 verified incidents in 2024 – “is now the highest number of grave violations against children in armed conflict since the inception of the Children and Armed Conflict mandate almost 30 years ago.”
The numbers cover the 25 country situations, and one regional monitoring arrangement included in the children and armed conflict report, she explained.
“Wars and Armed conflict inflicted excruciating levels of violence on children. As conflicts rage across the globe, children around the world are being killed, maimed, starved, or raped,” Gamba said.
She added, “It is as if parties to war and conflict, and we -the international community- choose to settle our disputes through military means at an enormous cost for our children, rather than choosing to negotiate peace for the benefit of all children.”
The Special Representative stressed that behind the numbers of this year’s report are the shattered stories, dreams, and futures of 22,495 children, “each of them profoundly affected by war, displacement, and the collapse of protection systems that should have served as their shield.
Gamba said, “Countries with the highest levels of violations in 2024 were Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, notably the Gaza Strip, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, Nigeria, and Haiti. Most grave violations showed an increase in 2024, including attacks on schools (44 percent), and rape and other forms of sexual violence (35 percent). “
The Special Representative expressed her “deep concern” at the continuous increase in verified incidents of sexual violence against children, as the numbers had already increased by 25 percent between 2022 and 2023.
She said, “Data for some countries is particularly staggering. For instance, in 2024, for Haiti alone, over 550 children were victims of sexual violence, with over 70 per cent of cases involving gang rape. In Nigeria, over 400 children were subjected to sexual violence, including forced marriage. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations verified that over 350 girls were subjected to sexual violence including rape, gang rape and sexual slavery.”
The Special Representative reiterated that children living amidst hostilities are being robbed of their childhood, adding that parties to conflict who, instead of recognizing the special protection afforded to children, are blatantly ignoring international law and show little to no political will.
“The magnitude of the suffering of the children in Gaza defies and contravenes every human standard,” Gamba continued, stressing, “we cannot continue to stand by and watch with no action.”
“There is no justification for depriving children of access to survival means such food, healthcare, and security,” calling Israel to “facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief to civilians in need in the Gaza Strip.”
The Special Representative added, “it is imperative that the armed groups inside Gaza prime humanitarian relief over their political aspirations, including through the immediate release of all Israeli hostages, alive or dead.”
Gamba called on the international community to “recommit to the universal consensus to protect children from armed conflict, and on parties to conflict to immediately end their wars which are fought over the bodies of their own children.”
“All parties to conflict must uphold the core principles of International Humanitarian Law that impose limits on the destruction and suffering caused by armed conflict: humanity, distinction, proportionality and necessity,” the Special Representative concluded.
The report was published on Thursday (19 Jun) and will be presented in a meeting to the security Council next week.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Media stakeout by Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, on Iran.
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Talking to reporters outside the Council before the meeting, Danon said, “the same regime whose Supreme Leader calls for the extermination of Israel and the United States, whose operatives have plotted assassinations of elected leaders, now sends its ambassador to cry victim before the Security Council. This week alone, the ambassador over Iran submitted five letters within a week, five letters, not to condemn terrorism, not to announce it is dismantling its nuclear program, but to seek sympathy for a regime that funds, arms, and orchestrates terror across the globe. Iran is not under attack. Iran is being stopped.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Secretary-General António Guterres today (20 Jun) called on the parties to the Israel – Iran conflict, as well as potential parties to the conflict, to “give peace a chance,” and said, “let us act — responsibly and together — to pull the region, and our world, back from the brink.”
Addressing the Security Council, Guterres said, “there are moments when the choices before us are not just consequential — they are defining. Moments when the direction taken will shape not only the fate of nations, but potentially, our collective future. This is such a moment.”
Guterres said, “the world is watching with growing alarm. We are not drifting toward crisis – we are racing toward it. We are not witnessing isolated incidents — we are on course to potential chaos. The expansion of this conflict could ignite a fire that no one can control. We must not let that happen.”
He said, “the only thing that is predictable is that the consequences of continuing this conflict are unpredictable. Let us not look back on this decisive moment with regret.”
Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, for her part said, “the intensifying cycle of attacks and counterattacks has resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties, including fatalities, in both Iran and Israel,” reporting to the Council official Iranian figures of 224 people killed and more than 2,500 others injured in Israeli strikes across Iran as of 19 June, 90 percent of them civilians.
Other estimates, she said, “based on local non-governmental organizations and human rights groups, suggest the death toll is at least double the official figure.”
In Israel, DiCarlo continued, “the Office of the Prime Minister stated that, as of 19 June, Iran’s strikes have killed 24 people and injured 915 others, the vast majority civilians. The strikes have also damaged homes, leading to the displacement of Israelis.”
IAEA Director-General Mariano Grossi briefing the Council via video teleconference, said, “attacks on nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic of Iran have caused a sharp degradation in nuclear safety and security in Iran. Though they have not so far led to a radiological release affecting the public, there is a danger this could occur.”
Grossi said, “in case of an attack on the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant a direct hit could result in a very high release of radioactivity to the environment. Similarly, a hit that disabled the only two lines supplying electrical power to the plant could cause its reactor’s core to melt, which could result in a high release of radioactivity to the environment. In their worst-case, both scenarios would necessitate protective actions, such as evacuations and sheltering of the population or the need to take stable iodine, with the reach extending to distances from a few to several hundred kilometres.”
He said, “any action against the Tehran Nuclear Research Reactor could have severe consequences, potentially for large areas of the city of Tehran and its inhabitants.”
Shea told the Council that “while the United States was not involved in Israel’s strikes, let there be no doubt that the United States continues to stand with Israel and supports its actions against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
She said, “Iran’s leaders could have avoided this conflict had they agreed to a deal that would have prevented them from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon, but they refused to do so – choosing instead to delay and deny.”
Iranian Ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani for his part said Israeli airstrikes were “an assault on the global non-proliferation regime,” and called on the Council to “implement its resolution.”
Iravani said, “if the Council fails to act now, it will send a message that international law and resolutions apply selectively. If the non-proliferation regime collapses, this Council will share responsibility with the Israeli regime.”
The Iranian Ambassador said, “Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and under the world’s most extensive inspections. Iran has long advocated for a nuclear-weapon-free-zone in the Middle East. Israel is the only possessor of undeclared nuclear weapons in the region. It’s refused to accede to the NPT and blocked regional disarmament efforts.”
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon, addressing Iravani directly, said, “you are not a victim. You are not even a diplomat. You are a wolf pretending to be a diplomat. And we are done pretending otherwise.”
Danon told the Council that “Iran has already enriched uranium to new weapon-grade levels,” and “has built deep underground facilities designed to survive bunker busting bombs.”
He said Iran “has advanced missile delivery systems, and it has lied to the IAEA and the world at every step,” stressing that “there must finally be an acknowledgment that there is no greater threat to international peace and security than a nuclear Iran.”
