UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk looks on at the opening of the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council at the United Nations office in Geneva on February 23, 2026. FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP
The United Nations' rights chief deplored the strikes on Saturday, February 28, in the Middle East and urged all parties to return to negotiations, saying attacks would only result in "death, destruction and human misery."
"I deplore the military strikes across Iran this morning by Israel and the United States of America, and the subsequent retaliatory strikes by Iran," Volker Turk said in a statement. "As always, in any armed conflict, it is civilians who end up paying the ultimate price."
"Bombs and missiles are not the way to resolve differences but only result in death, destruction and human misery."
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