The United Nations’ rights chief deplored the US and Israeli strikes in the Middle East and urged all parties to return to negotiations, saying attacks would only result in “death, destruction and human misery”, AFP reports.

“I deplore the military strikes across Iran this morning by Israel and the United States of America, and the subsequent retaliatory strikes by Iran. As always, in any armed conflict, it is civilians who end up paying the ultimate price,” Volker Turk said in a statement.

“To avert these terrible consequences for civilians, I call for restraint and implore all parties to see reason, to de-escalate, and for a return to the negotiating table where they had been actively seeking a solution only hours earlier,” he said.