UN chief urges US, Iran to pursue peace talks, warns against escalation

Speaking at a press conference in Cairo on Monday, António Guterres urged the United States and Iran to pursue talks and exercise restraint, warning that an escalation could spiral out of control. He called for navigational rights to be restored in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and urged Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza and implement the UN Security Council-endorsed plan. Guterres condemned settlement expansion, evictions and violence in the occupied West Bank, and reaffirmed Palestinian self-determination and the two-state solution. He also called for an end to fighting in Sudan and urged Libyan stakeholders to unify institutions and prepare national elections.