Middle East: UN chief warns of risk of 'full war'

Middle East: UN chief warns of risk of 'full war' Published June 10, 2026last updated June 10, 2026What you need to know - UN secretary-general says there is a risk of a 'lesser fire' becoming a 'full war' - The US has blamed Iran for the crash of an attack helicopter off Oman and carried out strikes on Iranian sites - Iran has responded with attacks of its own on US sites in Bahrain and Kuwait - Trump says Iran must 'pay the price' for not having signed a peace deal Here is a rundown of the main events from the Iran war and across the Middle East conflict on Wednesday, June 10, 2026: Tired of missing our real-time updates? Click here to add us as a Preferred Source on Google. Then tap the "Star" or "Preferred" to keep DW News at the top of your feed. UN watchdog demands update on Iranian nuclear stockpile The UN nuclear watchdog on Wednesday approved a resolution demanding that Iran provide information about its uranium stockpile and production facilities "without delay." Iran's nuclear sites were badly damaged by US and Israeli attacks last year. But Iran has not informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the fate of that material or allowed IAEA inspectors to examine bombed sites. Wednesday's resolution, drawn up by Britain, France, Germany and the United States, was passed by 21 out of 35 members on the board of the IAEA. Ten countries abstained while three voted against: Russia, China and Niger, which also added that Venezuela was not allowed to take part in the vote. Iran rejected the resolution. In a post on X, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the "attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities halted verification activities and forced Agency inspectors to leave Iran for safety reasons." "Now, America seeks to turn the consequences of its illegal attack into a case against the Islamic Republic of Iran," he added. UN chief warns of risk of 'full war' UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres likened the ceasefire involving Iran and the United States to a "lesser fire" and pointed to the escalating attacks and mounting rhetoric between the two over the past 48 hours. "We should not minimize the risks of a lesser fire becoming full fire, or in another word — full war," Guterres said at a meeting of the UN Security Council. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran "will have to pay the price" for taking "too long to negotiate a deal." While Iran has accused the US of damaging diplomacy with its use of force and what it says are "repeated violations of the ceasefire." The latest escalation comes after Trump said Iran shot down an Apache gunship in the Strait of Hormuz region on Tuesday. This sparked retaliatory strikes from both the US and Iran overnight. Amnesty accuses Israel of 'ethnic cleansing' in West Bank Amnesty International has accused Israel of conducting "ethnic cleansing" against Palestinian Bedouins in the occupied West Bank. In a report released on Wednesday, the rights group said that 27 Bedouin and herding communities were forcibly displaced between 2023 and 2025 or were at risk of displacement in Area C of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which is under full Israeli control under the 1990s Oslo agreements. "Israeli authorities are accelerating annexation through a state-driven campaign of ethnic cleansing targeting Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities," Amnesty said in a statement. It pointed to land grabs, financial support to settlements, and the arming of settlers, "thereby enabling a brutal state-sanctioned campaign of settler violence." Amnesty also refuted arguments by Israeli officials who say settler violence is caused by bad actors in that community. The rights group said the "ethnic cleansing campaign is state-led, and state-sponsored, not driven by rogue settlers or so-called extremist ministers." The Israeli government did not immediately respond to the report. It has long rejected previous accusations of ethnic cleansing. Amnesty Secretary General Agnes Callamard launched the report in Berlin, where she said Germany and other European countries had "enabled Israel's policy of ethnic cleansing." She said that Europe's targeted sanctions against extremist individuals were symbolically important but had "no impact on the rate of settlement expansion" or on "the scale of settlers' violence." "The EU in particular, must leverage its influence by expediting the long-overdue suspension of its association agreement with Israel," Callamard told reporters in Berlin. UN rights office to investigate potential violations in Lebanon The UN human rights office will send a team of investigators to Lebanon next week to assess potential violations of international law by all parties since March 2. "Accountability cannot be overstated. Prompt and independent investigations into alleged violations of international humanitarian law must be conducted," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Wednesday. "It's the first time that we are sending this assessment mission, and the idea is indeed to look at violations by all parties — violations of international law, violations of international human rights law, and to document this, and eventually to report back to you on our findings," he added. Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war on March 2 when Iran-backed Hezbollah militants launched rockets at Israel, which it said was to avenge the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Israel responded with a ground invasion of southern Lebanon later that month. More than 3,600 people have been killed by Israeli strikes on Lebanon and more than 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced due to the fighting. The Israeli military has said 17 soldiers have been killed since a ceasefire with Lebanon took effect. Trump says Iran must 'pay the price' for not having signed deal Iran has taken too long to negotiate a deal and will now "have to pay the price," US President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post on Wednesday. He gave no further details on what that price might be. His comments come after the US targeted several sites in Iran in response to the crash of a US Army attack helicopter off Oman that the US has blamed on Iran. Those attacks, and Iran's retaliatory strikes on US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, came despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 8 but appears ever more fragile. Trump's post on Wednesday marked a stark contrast from his comments to reporters just a day earlier that negotiations to end the war were in their "final throes" and could be wrapped up in "two or three days." Tanker near Strait of Hormuz suffers engine room fire — UKMTO The engine room of a tanker located off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz caught fire on Wednesday, with two crew missing and one casualty from the incident, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said. "Local authorities have reported a tanker has experienced a fire in their engine room and are on the scene assisting with the evacuation of the crew," it said. "The vessel is reporting 1 casualty and 2 crew members missing. No environment impact reported," it added, saying the incident occurred 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) northeast of Sohar in Oman. Earlier, British maritime security company Vanguard Tech said the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello had "transmitted a distress call stating that its engine room had been struck by a missile while operating off Sohar in the Gulf of Oman" and that there was a fire onboard. UKMTO did not report the cause of the fire. The Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which some 20% of the world's oil and about 25% of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) normally passes, has been virtually closed since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28. US damaging diplomacy with ceasefire violations, Iran says Diplomatic efforts with the US cannot progress if Washington continues to undermine them with contradictory messages and repeated violations of a ceasefire agreed to in April, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday. "Following overnight events, we need to reassess (the diplomatic path with Washington). ... Any diplomatic process requires a minimum stable environment," he said, referring to the recent US strikes on Iran. "Unfortunately, the United States is damaging this diplomatic process through the contradictory messages it sends, its repeated shifts in positions and demands, and, worst of all, through repeated violations of the ceasefire," Baghaei said in a video message carried by Iranian media. "Any diplomatic process is damaged by the use of force and by resorting to unlawful actions on the ground," he said. US President Donald Trump has frequently repeated that a peace deal with Iran is within reach, without providing evidence to back up his claims. So far, Tehran and Washington have held several rounds of indirect talks mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, but the two sides still seem far apart on key issues, such as reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program. US strikes cut off water for thousands in Iran's Sirik — Iranian state media US strikes on two reservoirs near the southern Iranian port town of Sirik have cut off the water supply to thousands of people in the region, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday. The strikes reportedly caused damage to two reservoirs providing drinking water for the Bemani and Kouhestak areas of Sirik. "Unfortunately, following this attack, 20,000 residents of the region have lost access to safe drinking water, and with temperatures ranging between 45 and 50C (113 and 122F), conditions have become extremely difficult and critical for local inhabitants," Iran's state television quoted local water company officials as saying. "The destruction of these reservoirs has created a major problem for the region's water supply network," it added. The US carried out the strikes on Iran after an American attack helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz in an incident Washington blamed on Tehran. Tehran has condemned the strikes as having been carried out "under false pretext." China warns against escalation in Middle East conflict The government of China said on Wednesday that it was "deeply concerned" about escalation in the conflict in the Middle East after the United States carried out strikes on Iran following the the crash of a helicopter US officials blamed on Tehran. "Various relevant parties should maintain calm and exercise restraint, stop intensifying the conflict and escalating the situation, take concrete measures to ease and cool down tensions," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news briefing. Lin said the disputes should be resolved by political and diplomatic means and called for a "total and lasting" ceasefire to be agreed to "as soon as possible." READ: Is Israel spying on the US? US media have reported that the Pentagon now considers Israel to pose a major espionage threat. The governments of the United States and Israel, which, at least on the surface, are steadfast allies, have denied the reports. But recent history has many examples showing that spying among allies is by no means uncommon. Cargo vessel off Yemen comes under fire — British military Security guards on a cargo vessel 88 nautical miles (163 kilometers) southwest of Yemen's port town of Balhaf have exchanged fire with armed people on a small vessel, the British military reported on Wednesday. The cargo vessel reported being approached by a small boat carrying six armed people before the incident, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a maritime security organization sponsored by the Royal Navy. The craft turned away after the exchange of fire, it said. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility. However, Yemen's Houthi rebels have said they will resume attacking ships affiliated with Israel, while Somali pirates have also stepped up their activities. Jordan reports downing five Iranian missiles Jordan reported on Wednesday that it had shot down five incoming missiles launched by Iran. Iran said the missiles targeted the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, which has hosted American F-35 fighter jets and other aircraft. According to a statement from the Jordanian military carried by the state-run Petra news agency, there were no injuries in the attack. What is the latest in the Mideast conflict? A current flare-up in hostilities between the United States and Iran is highlighting the fragility of a ceasefire in place since April 8. The renewed strikes come after Iran and Israel also traded fire for the first time since the truce went into effect. Here is a rundown of the main recent events: - US Central Command announces strikes on Iran after downing of US Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz - US President Donald Trump had earlier threatened an attack on Iran over the helicopter shootdown - After several rounds of strikes, the US military said it completed its operation - Fresh Iranian attacks reported on US military facilities in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain - Iran's foreign minister in response to US strikes: 'Leave our region if you want to be safe' Welcome to our coverage You join our coverage of events in the Middle East as an April ceasefire in the over-three-month conflict between the US and Iran appears ever more fragile. The US carried out strikes on Iran overnight after a US Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, although it is not clear that Iran intentionally downed the aircraft. The two crew members were rescued unhurt. Iran has responded, carrying out aerial attacks on sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. This comes as Israel says it launched several strikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday in response to attacks on northern Israel by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Read on to stay abreast of the latest developments in the Middle East conflict, now in its fourth month.