A senior United Nations official on Monday appealed to “all parties” to prevent a further escalation of tensions in the Middle East, during an emergency Security Council meeting where China and Russia accused the US of adding fuel to the fire.

“I call on the Security Council to continue to work actively with all parties to prevent a further escalation and worsening of tensions that undermine peace and security in the region,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said at the during the emergency meeting, which was dedicated to the American retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria.

“I repeat the Secretary-General’s (acting UN Antonio Guterres) appeal to all parties to step back from the brink and consider the unbearable human and financial costs of a possible regional war,” he insisted, avoiding blaming any some country in particular.

SA member states echoed the concern, with some accusing the US of defending itself by bombing Syria and Iraq in retaliation for an attack on a US support base in Jordan on January 28 that killed three members of the American armed forces and was attributed by Washington to organizations close to Iran.

“It is clear that the US strikes were intended, specifically and deliberately, to fuel the conflict” with the ultimate goal of “maintaining its dominant position in the world,” Russian UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzia complained during the yesterday’s meeting, which was convened at Moscow’s request.

“US actions will likely intensify the vicious circle of the law of retaliation in the Middle East,” his Chinese counterpart Jun Zhang said, criticizing the Americans for violating the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria. This position was also expressed by the Algerian representative Amar Benzama.

Deputy US ambassador Robert Wood, on the other hand, defended the “necessary and proportionate” strikes that he said his country had launched while exercising its “right to self-defense.”

“The US has no desire for a wider war in the region, where we are actively working to contain and end the war in the Gaza Strip. We are not seeking a direct conflict with Iran,” he assured, calling on the SA to put pressure on Tehran to stop attacks on US troops deployed in the region.

The US last week launched airstrikes against 85 targets in four locations in Syria and three in Iraq, targeting members of the Revolutionary Guards, an elite body of Iran’s armed forces, and factions close to Tehran, according to Washington.

They have warned that more strikes will follow in retaliation for the January 28 attack on their base in Jordan, on the kingdom’s border with Syria and ten kilometers from Iraq.

The US retaliation, which has claimed the lives of at least 45 people, has been strongly condemned by Damascus, Baghdad, as well as Iran, a sworn enemy of the US.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, called the US accusations “false, non-existent and unacceptable”.

“Iran never sought the conflict to spread in the region,” he underlined. However, “if Iran is threatened or attacked (…) it will not hesitate to exercise its inherent right to retaliate vigorously under international law and the UN Charter”

Iran backs armed groups blamed by Washington for a resurgence of attacks against US troops in the Middle East, amid the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.