JERUSALEM: Zionist entity Foreign Minister Katz reinforced on Sunday his decision to declare UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata over what he described as a failure to condemn Iran’s missile attack. On Oct 2, Katz said that he was barring Guterres from entering Zionist entity. He posted on X on Sunday that “Guterres can continue seeking support from UN member states, but the decision will not change.”

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric described the initial announcement on Oct 2 as political and “just one more attack, so to speak, on UN staff that we’ve seen from the government of Zionist entity.” He said the UN traditionally does not recognize the concept of persona non grata as applying to UN staff.

When asked to respond to Katz’s remarks on Sunday, a UN spokesperson referred to Dujarric’s earlier comments. Dujarric also said last week that the UN had not received any formal communication from Zionist entity on the matter. On Oct 3, the UN Security Council expressed its full support for Guterres, saying in a statement that “any decision not to engage with the UN Secretary-General or the United Nations is counterproductive, especially in the context of escalating tensions in the Middle East.”

When asked last week if Guterres had been made persona non grata by Zionist entity, Zionist entity’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters: “There was a statement made ... we will evaluate the relationship. We are here at the UN, we work with the UN agencies, but we were disappointed.”

Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Zionist entity on Oct 1 amid an escalation in fighting. Guterres condemned the missile attack and “the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation.” Earlier the same day, Zionist entity had sent troops into southern Lebanon. — Reuters