US-Iran Tensions: Geopolitical Tensions At Their Highest Level This Century, Says UN Chief

The United Nations has voiced concern over the geopolitical tensions amid escalating US-Iran tensions over the killing of Iran's most influential general Qassim Suleimani. “The New Year has begun with our world in turmoil. We are living in dangerous times,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Monday.

“Geopolitical tensions are at their highest level this century. And this turbulence is escalating,” he said.

Soleimani, 62, the head of Iran’s elite al-Quds force and architect of its regional security apparatus, was killed when a US drone fired missiles into a convoy that was leaving the Baghdad International Airport last week. The strike also killed the deputy chief of Iraq’s powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force.

The strike was authorised by US President Donald Trump. Iran has vowed to avenge the killing of the elite Quds Force commander, and on Sunday it indicated that it would no longer be bound by the restrictions on its nuclear programme, outlined in the 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. The deal was debated in the Security Council just last month.

Earlier, Iran unfurled a 'red flag of revenge' on an important mosque in after vowing to avenge the killing of its top general in an airstrike by US drones. The red flag was hoisted above the Jamkaran Mosque which is on the outskirts of the holy city of Qom, about 100 miles south of Tehran. In Shiite tradition, red flags symbolise both blood spilled unjustly and serve as a call to avenge a person who is slain. The text on the flag says: "Those who want to avenge the blood of Hussein".

The flag can be seen as a clear warning that Iran is getting ready to strike back at America. General Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds force and mastermind of its regional security strategy, was killed in an airstrike last week near the Iraqi capital's international airport. Soleimani and Mohandis were killed along with eight others in a precision drone strike early Friday as they drove away from Baghdad international airport in two vehicles.