GENEVA

UN agencies on Saturday called for restraint and a return to dialogue following US and Israeli strikes on Iran, urging political will to achieve peace

"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, the UN human rights chief, said in a statement.

"As always, in any armed conflict, it is civilians who end up paying the ultimate price," he added.

Turk urged all parties to exercise restraint and return to dialogue, saying "bombs and missiles are not the way to resolve differences but only result in death, destruction and human misery."

"To avert these terrible consequences for civilians, I call for restraint and implore all parties to see reason, to de-escalate, and for a return to the 'negotiating table' where they had been actively seeking a solution only hours earlier," he said, calling it "the only way" to durably resolve the "deep differences" between states.

Turk warned that failure to de-escalate "risks an even wider conflict" that could cause "further senseless civilian deaths and destruction on a potentially unimaginable scale, not just in Iran but across the Middle East region."

The rights chief also reminded all actors that "international law with respect to armed conflict is very clear: the protection of civilians is paramount," and called for accountability for any violations.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, for his part, said he is "deeply troubled by the situation unfolding today across the Middle East."

"My heart goes out to the civilians trapped in the crossfire," he said in a statement, urging leaders to choose "dialogue over the senseless route of destruction."

Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) president warned that the escalation is "igniting a dangerous chain reaction across the region, with potentially devastating consequences for civilians."

"Upholding the rules of war is an obligation and not a choice," Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement, stressing that civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, homes, and schools "must be spared from attack."

She also voiced ICRC's readiness to respond to needs amid escalation.

"Political will is needed to achieve peace and prevent further death and destruction," she concluded.

The attacks came as talks between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear program had been ongoing under Oman's mediation. A new round of talks in Geneva ended on Thursday.

The US also struck three Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day Israel-Iran war last June.