Colombia Condemns Attack on Iran, Urges Middle East De-Escalation

Written on 03/01/2026
Josep Freixes
Colombia condemned the US and Israeli attack on Iran and called for de-escalation of a conflict that threatens to ignite the Middle East. Credit: United Nations.

Colombia rejected the military crisis affecting the Middle East following the attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran, which have left hundreds of civilian deaths, emphasizing the more than 50 girls — Iranian sources speak of 85 — who were staying at a school. Both the words of the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, and those of the minister of Foreign Affairs, Rosa Villacencio, rejected the attack early yesterday Saturday morning, shortly after it occurred.

Later, the Colombian delegation to the United Nations Security Council, which met yesterday in an emergency session, again rejected the attack against Iran and called on the parties to work toward seeking peace in the region. In her remarks, the representative of the South American country, Leonor Zalabata, used the opportunity to underscore the country’s rejection of any action that violates state sovereignty and shakes the most basic principles of international law.

In this regard, Zalabata stated emphatically that “the protection of human lives must always be at the center of international decisions” and unequivocally condemned “any military action that contravenes the Charter of the United Nations and puts the civilian population at risk.” Her message was an explicit call to place dialogue and diplomacy above bombings, warning that violence only intensifies the suffering of peoples and weakens the fabric of the world order.

Colombia condemns attack on Iran, urges Middle East de-escalation

In three settings, the government of Colombia laid out its position on the issue. First, President Gustavo Petro himself did so through his account on the social network X. “I believe President Trump made a mistake today. The peace of the world is the common cause of humanity. Peace and life are the foundations of existence. A powerless United Nations must meet immediately and declare that this is the hour of world peace. Nuclear weapons must not spread and they must all be destroyed,” he wrote.

In another message on the same platform, Petro added: “The toll of today’s global violence appears to be 50 underage girls killed by a missile from Netanyahu. It is called barbarism, and it is useless to tell the women of Iran to free themselves by removing their veils if those who demand that kill their daughters. The conversation on nuclear disarmament between the U.S. and Iran must continue. And humanity must demand that Israel and Palestine hold free elections to choose their leaders.”

For her part, Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio said in an official statement that Colombia cannot remain indifferent to the circumstances with which we awoke today on the international stage and rejected “any armed action that deepens regional instability and puts the civilian population in the Middle East at risk.”

The foreign minister said that “Colombia demands the immediate cessation of hostilities,” and called for “halting the escalation that threatens global stability.”

She added that “the use of force only deepens pain, fuels hatred, and multiplies suffering… It is families, children, women, and workers who pay with their lives and their dignity the consequences of this confrontation.”

Peace conference for the Middle East

For her part, Leonor Zalabata, Colombia’s permanent representative to the UN, told the Security Council that “Colombia proposes the immediate convening of a peace conference for the region (the Middle East) under the auspices of the United Nations to achieve sustainable political solutions.”

In her remarks, the ambassador said that “we are facing a serious military escalation, moving toward a confrontation with unpredictable consequences,” and maintained that the use of force and weapons “is replacing democracy, dialogue, and the rule of law: we condemn any military action contrary to the United Nations Charter, whoever it may come from.”

She reiterated that “no State has the unilateral right to attack another to impose regime change,” and added that “Colombia condemns the attacks and stands in solidarity with the peoples of Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Kuwait.”

However, she said that Colombia reaffirms the universal objective of general and complete nuclear disarmament, but warned that “Iran must remain exclusively peaceful in its purposes and in compliance with its international obligations.”

And although she noted that the Asian country “must guarantee” the human rights and fundamental freedoms of its population, “Iran’s failure to comply in these areas cannot serve as justification for unilaterally carrying out military attacks against a State.”