ABUJA — In a blistering diplomatic rebuke on Saturday, Abuja condemned Israel’s “pre‑emptive” airstrikes on Iran as a reckless escalation imperilling regional stability and civilian lives.
Spokesperson Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, decried the strikes—codenamed “Operation Rising Lion”—that saw over 200 IAF aircraft deliver 330 munitions against some 100 Iranian targets before sunrise on 13 June 2025.
Ebienfa warned that such unilateral military action “not only endangers civilian lives but threatens to plunge the broader Middle East into further instability, with implications for international security and economic development”.
Nigeria’s statement—echoing similar protests from Nepal, the Netherlands, and Nicaragua—called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” and urged both Tehran and Jerusalem to “exercise utmost restraint” and pivot to dialogue under United Nations auspices.
This marked denunciation stands in stark contrast to Israel’s justification of the strikes as necessary to degrade Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and missile capabilities.
While Tel Aviv claims to have neutralised key radar and launcher sites, Iran retaliated with waves of ballistic missiles, some breaching Israel’s multi‑tier defence shield and causing civilian casualties in central districts.
The asymmetry is clear: precision manned aircraft striking military objectives versus indiscriminate missiles targeting densely populated areas.
Analysts warn that Nigeria’s condemnation reflects a broader African unease over great‑power conflicts spilling into global security and commodity markets.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer and a non‑permanent UN Security Council member for 2025–26, has long championed peaceful resolution of disputes—a legacy of its role in ECOWAS and the African Union.
Ebienfa emphasised that “military action is not a substitute for negotiation,” urging the Security Council to leverage diplomatic channels before the conflict metastasises beyond the Levant.
With global oil prices already jittery and trade routes imperilled by missile duels, continued hostilities threaten to stall economic recovery post‑pandemic.
Nigeria’s call for multilateral engagement underscores the narrow path ahead: without a reinforced international framework to check unilateral strikes, the cycle of tit‑for‑tat reprisals may spiral into a conflagration drawing in extra‑regional powers.
Only through sustained diplomacy, mutual respect, and adherence to international law can lasting peace be forged—and the spectre of a wider Middle East war averted.
