The United Nations secretary-general issued a stark warning to the Security Council on Thursday, declaring that the situation across the Middle East is “getting out of control” and “teetering on the edge of the unimaginable.” António Guterres, addressing a session convened by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Pakistan on the peaceful resolution of conflicts, insisted that “there is no military solution to the conflict” and that “diplomacy is the only way forward.” His intervention came hours after Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, a development that threatens to turn the Bab al-Mandeb strait into a new flashpoint.

Guterres stressed that freedom of navigation around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb must be fully restored. The Bab al-Mandeb, the southern gateway to the Red Sea, has become a critical alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has previously blocked. The Houthis this week announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, extending it on Tuesday to all maritime traffic heading to or from Saudi ports, in retaliation for the blockade of Yemeni ports and an attack on Sanaa’s international airport. Viewed from the Security Council chamber, the escalating tit-for-tat at sea risks compounding an already volatile regional dynamic.

On Gaza, the secretary-general noted that civilians continue to pay a heavy price despite what he termed a “supposed ceasefire.” Killings persist, he said, “as Israel increases its control of Gaza,” and conditions remain “intolerable.” He cited an analysis forecasting that 70 per cent of Gaza’s population will face high levels of food insecurity. In the occupied West Bank, Guterres warned of “creeping annexation,” violence and “large-scale displacement,” adding that the region is being pulled into an “ever-widening circle of confrontation.”

Guterres, who has only months left in his post, described the often-divided Security Council as “the hope of humanity” and urged its members to lead by example. “Geopolitical divisions are no reason for inaction or for renouncing our responsibilities,” he said, calling on the body to redouble efforts to find common ground. The diplomatic push unfolded as the Wall Street Journal reported, according to Interfax, that the United States is accelerating the deployment of troops, medics and weaponry to the Middle East to provide President Donald Trump with more robust military options should the confrontation with Iran widen.