AU condemns US-Israel military campaign against Iran as conflict enters second day
The African Union has called for immediate de-escalation of what it described as a joint US-Israeli assault on Iran which has killed Iran’s Supreme Leader and triggered sweeping retaliatory strikes across the Gulf.
This follows reports of several strikes across the Middle East, with Iran reportedly targeting U.S military infrastructure as the conflict enters its second day with no diplomatic end in sight.
According to a statement issued on Saturday, February 28, Chairperson of the AU, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, warned that the “most serious military escalation in the Middle East” in decades threatens to destabilize global markets and deepen hardship across the African continent.
“The Chairperson of the AU is deeply concerned by the reported military strikes carried out by the United States in coordination with Israeli forces against targets inside the Islamic Republic of Iran, an escalation that marks a serious intensification of hostilities in the Middle East,” part of the statement read.
The AU Chairperson called on all parties to exercise restraint and pursue sustained dialogue, emphasizing that every actor must “act fully in accordance with international law and the United Nations Charter to safeguard international peace and security.”
The statement further pointed out what it labelled as Africa’s “acute vulnerability” to the knock-on effects of the conflict, warning that “further escalation threatens to worsen global instability, with serious implications for energy markets, food security, and economic resilience, particularly in Africa, where conflict and economic pressures remain acute.”
He urged all parties to prioritize diplomatic engagement, noting the ongoing “international mediation efforts facilitated by the Sultanate of Oman” as the preferred path to preventing further escalation.
“Sustainable peace can only be achieved through diplomacy, not through force,” the statement emphasized.
A Conflict 36 Hours In the Making
In the early hours of Saturday, 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel launched a coordinated large-scale military offensive against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Israeli operation was codenamed Operation Roaring Lion, while the U.S. component was labelled Operation Epic Fury.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the combined US-Israeli force conducted nearly 900 strikes on Iranian targets in the first 12 hours alone, “hitting an array of military, command-and-control, and leadership targets across the country, including nuclear and ballistic missile sites.”
According to U.S President Donald Trump, the strikes seek to permanently eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons programme and overthrow the Islamic Republic’s government.
Meanwhile Iranian state media have since reported that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on Saturday morning in a direct strike on his offices in Tehran.
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