NEW YORK – The United Nations Security Council aims to hold a meeting on April 14, a diplomat said, after Israel requested that the council condemn Iran’s attack on Israel and designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation.

The tentative meeting time was 4pm eastern time (4am Singapore time on April 15), the diplomat said on April 13, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan requested the council hold an emergency meeting in a letter to the council’s president.

“The Iranian attack is a serious threat to global peace and security and I expect the Council to use every means to take concrete action against Iran,” he wrote in a post on X.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Iran’s attack, saying he was “deeply alarmed about the very real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation”.

Iran launched a swarm of explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel late on April 13 in its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory, risking a major escalation as the United States pledged “ironclad” backing for Israel.

Iran has vowed retaliation for what it called an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate on April 1 that killed seven Revolutionary Guards officers, including two senior commanders. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attack. REUTERS