UN chief urges 'maximum restraint' after Israel strikes Iran

UN chief Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Iran to "show maximum restraint" after Israel's wave of air strikes, the secretary-general's spokesman said in a statement late Thursday.

While broadly condemning "any military escalation in the Middle East," the statement by Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq noted Guterres was "particularly concerned" by Israel's strikes on nuclear installations amid the ongoing US-Iran negotiations.

"The Secretary-General asks both sides to show maximum restraint, avoiding at all costs a descent into deeper conflict, a situation that the region can hardly afford," it added.