“I don’t see any difference. It doesn’t matter who targets civilians. It’s totally unacceptable,” he said.
Representatives of the US and Israeli governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Guterres’ remarks. The United States and Israel began a bombing campaign on February 28, killing Iran’s top leader and triggering retaliatory missile and drone strikes from Tehran across the Middle East.
After calling for a de-escalation in the region, Guterres appeared to blame Israel for perpetuating the conflict, and called on US President Donald Trump to persuade Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to end it.
“The war needs to end … and I believe that it is in the hands of the United States to stop it. It is possible (to end the war), but it depends on the political will to do it,” Guterres told host Anne McElvoy on an episode of the EU Secret podcast on Friday morning.
“I am sure that Israel, as a strategy, wants to achieve the complete destruction of Iran’s military capabilities and regime change. And I believe Iran has a strategy, which is to resist for as long as possible and cause as much damage as possible. So the important thing to solve the problem is that the United States decides to claim that it has done its job.
“President Trump will be able to convince … those who need to be convinced that the job is done. That the job can be done,” Guterres added.
