Iran told: avoid ‘further provocations’

TEHRAN should avoid “further violence and provocations”, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Monday, as tensions mount in the Middle East after US forces killed a top Iranian general.

The warning came as the EU called an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on Friday to discuss the fallout from the killing of Qasem Soleimani, head of Tehran’s Middle East operations as commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force.

At a hastily-convened emergency session of NATO’s ruling council on Monday afternoon, US officials explained the thinking behind the decision to kill Soleimani at Baghdad airport on Friday -- an operation that caught many of Washington’s allies by surprise.

Stoltenberg stressed that the drone strike, which killed at least 10 people, was a “US decision” but said the other 28 NATO members had repeated their longstanding concerns about Iran’s destabilising activities in the Middle East.

Asked twice whether any member states criticised the US strike, Stoltenberg stressed their unity and their concern about Iran’s behaviour.

“We have recently seen an escalation by Iran, including the strike on a Saudi energy facility, and the shoot-down of an American drone,” Stoltenberg said.

“At our meeting today, Allies called for restraint and de-escalation. A new conflict would be in noone’s interest, so Iran must refrain from further violence and provocations.”