UN chief warns of 'profound risk of miscalculation' amid rising geopolitical tensions

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that "geopolitical tensions are at their highest level this century" and called on world leaders to stop escalating tensions, exercise maximum restraint and re-start dialogue.

Without naming any countries, Guterres told reporters: "This cauldron of tensions is leading more and more countries to take unpredicted decisions with unpredictable consequences and a profound risk of miscalculation."

His warning came after the United States killed Iran's most prominent general Qassem Soleimani on Friday, deepening a crisis that has heightened fears of a major Middle East conflagration.

"My message is simple and clear: stop escalation, exercise maximum restraint, restart dialogue, renew international cooperation," he said. "Let us not forget the terrible human suffering caused by war. As always, ordinary people pay the highest price. It is our common duty to avoid it."

Guterres did not explicitly name the U.S. or Iran during his brief remarks, but their bilateral tensions have been in the forefront of the global spotlight following the death of Qasem Soleimani who was killed in a U.S. airstrike last Friday.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who gave Soleimani the country's highest honor last year, vowed "severe retaliation" in response to his killing as President Donald Trump has warned the U.S. would respond harshly to any attacks on Americans or U.S. interests.

Soleimani was the long-time commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' elite Quds Force, which is designated a terror group by the U.S. The organization is estimated to have some 20,000 members.

Soleimani's death has put Iran and the U.S. on the brink of war, and Iran announced over the weekend that it has ended its commitments under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the agreement it struck with world powers that provided it with sanctions relief in exchange for imposing strict curbs on its nuclear program.

Trump withdrew Washington from the agreement in 2018 and went on to reimpose biting sanctions the U.S. agreed to lift under the pact, hobbling the Iranian economy in the process.

Iran has long complained that it was not receiving the economic benefits it was due under the pact, and had taken steps back from its requirements under the deal before its weekend announcement.