<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Bangladesh wants to see an effective role from those countries that are supposed to play an effective role in de-escalating the Iran-Israel tension.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bangladesh also wants to see killings in Gaza are stopped.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Bangladesh is in favour of peace, not for war," said Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud on Sunday evening at the state guest house Padma.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The people of the Middle East are facing a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict, António Guterres said on Sunday, urging “maximum restraint” across a region “on the brink”, hours after Iran launched attack drones and missiles against Israel overnight Saturday.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It is vital to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East...Now is the time for maximum restraint,” the UN Secretary-General told delegates at the opening of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">FM Hasan said because Israel attacked the Iranian embassy in Syria, Iran got the opportunity to attack. "Otherwise it would not have happened. Iran has 'retaliated' - that is what Iran says."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We hope that all the countries that are supposed to play a role will immediately take effective measures to resolve the Iran-Israel tension and stop the indiscriminate killing of people in Gaza. We are never for war, we are for peace," he said.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The foreign minister wished the journalists present there on Bengali New Year.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Responding to a question on Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah, the foreign minister said that the hostage sailors and the ship were safely rescued due to the all-out efforts of the government and those concerned.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier, he had a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister of Antigua and Barbuda E. P. Chet Greene who is now on a five-day official visit to Bangladesh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They discussed issues of mutual interest and ways to strengthen ties in the coming days.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/fas</div>