Iran calls for UN condemnation of Israel, US aggression

In a letter to the UN chief and Security Council president, Iranian envoy Amir Saeed Iravani on Monday called for recognition of Israel and the US as aggressors against Iran.

The full text of letter by Iravani is as follows: 

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

No. 2529804                                                                                                                    

Excellency,

Upon instructions from my Government, and further to our previous letters dated 13, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, and 28 June 2025, I wish to categorically reject and strongly condemn the baseless and legally flawed justification as well as unfounded allegations presented by the Representative of the United States in her letter dated 27 June 2025, (S/2025/426), regarding the unlawful armed attacks carried out by the United States against national sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran, targeting Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities. In the letter, the United States admitted explicitly its responsibility for its illegal use of force and acts of aggression as well as its full complicity with its proxy, the Israeli regime, in carrying out the large-scale, unprovoked, and premeditated military aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran on 13 June 2025. The United States’ claim of collective self-defense to justify its act of aggression is legally unfounded, politically dangerous, and strategically destabilizing. It represents an unlawful use of force in violation of the UN Charter, international law, and treaty obligations under the NPT. The deliberate targeting of Iran’s civilian nuclear infrastructure—under the false pretense of preemptive self-defense—must be unequivocally condemned as an act of aggression that threatens international peace and security and undermines the non-proliferation regime as a whole. In this regard, I would like to draw your attention and that of the members of the Security Council to the following:

The invocation of Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations as a justification for the U.S. armed attack on 22 June 2025 and the deliberate targeting of Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities—namely, Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan—is a gross distortion of international law and the UN Charter. The U.S. attack constitutes a clear act of aggression and a manifest violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which unequivocally prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. Contrary to the U.S. claim, Article 51 of the UN Charter provides for the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense only if an armed attack occurs. Neither the United States nor the Israeli regime was the victim of an armed attack by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The U.S. claim of exercising “collective self-defense” is similarly unfounded, as it requires that the alleged victim—the Israeli regime—must have first been subject to an armed attack. Neither condition has been met. Accordingly, the arbitrary and self-serving misinterpretation of Article 51 by the United States is fundamentally inconsistent with the UN Charter, international law, and the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice. As affirmed in General Assembly Resolution 3314 (1974), any preventive use of force in the absence of an actual armed attack is a clear act of aggression. Moreover, the established legal doctrine and the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice—particularly in the 1986 Nicaragua case (Nicaragua v. United States of America) and 2003 Oil Platforms case (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America)- reaffirmed that the right of self-defense can only be invoked in response to an armed attack and may only be invoked when the conditions of necessity and proportionality are fully met.

The United States invoked the alleged nuclear threat posed by Iran as a threat to the Israeli regime and international peace and security, a pretext to justify its acts of aggression, which lacks any credible legal or factual foundation. The latest report of the IAEA Director General does not substantiate any breach by Iran of its safeguards obligations, nor does it document any diversion of nuclear material. The Agency’s report unequivocally confirms that there is no evidence of a nuclear weapons development program in Iran. Even the United States’ own intelligence community has acknowledged this fact. Therefore, the invocation of a so-called “imminent threat” lacks any legal basis in international law and the Charter of the United Nations. Furthermore, the targeted Iranian nuclear facilities are peaceful facilities under the full scope of IAEA safeguards. The attack on these peaceful sites and facilities, which is absent any credible evidence of diversion toward weaponization, violates Iran’s inalienable right under Article IV of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Similarly, the United States’ reliance on speculative assertions regarding Iran’s future nuclear intentions—and its claim that the purpose of its unlawful military attack was “to neutralize the threat that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program posed to Israel and international peace and security”—is entirely without any legal foundation. This justification represents another cynical attempt by the U.S. and its proxy, the Israeli regime, to legitimize a preemptive war doctrine that holds no standing under international law and has been unequivocally and repeatedly rejected by the international community as a whole. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has consistently ruled that the use of force in anticipation of potential future threats is not permitted under Article 51. Iran has never initiated war against the United States or Israel, and its nuclear program remains strictly peaceful. Furthermore, as reaffirmed by UN Security Resolution 487 (1981), the Security Council explicitly condemned attacks on nuclear facilities as violations of the UN Charter. Likewise, multiple resolutions of the IAEA General Conference–including GC(XXIX)/RES/444 and GC(XXXIV)/RES/533–have unequivocally reaffirmed that any armed attack or threat of attack against nuclear sites and facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a serious breach of international law and undermines the very relevance of the IAEA and the credibility of its verification and monitoring regime. Accordingly, what is the purpose of safeguards if illegal, unilateral uses of force can simply replace the protections offered by the IAEA? The U.S. and Israeli military strikes set an extremely dangerous precedent, undermine the integrity of the global non-proliferation regime, and risk nuclear catastrophe.

The assertion that “peaceful measures were exhausted” is both inaccurate and deeply misleading. The Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to diplomacy, including its readiness to return to its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), provided that the U.S. and European parties return to their commitments and cease their non-compliances and violations. It is the United States that unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 in gross breach of UNSC resolution 2231(2015) and has, since then, consistently obstructed meaningful diplomatic progress. Iran was involved in good faith in negotiations, and has been constructively engagement in nuclear talks, mediation by the Saltant of Oman, and actively preparing for the next round of indirect diplomatic engagement with the United States, scheduled for June 15—only for the Israeli regime to launch a military strike against Iranian territory just two days prior. The large-scale and unprovoked, premeditated military aggression by the Israeli regime, followed by the U.S. armed attack, was a deliberate attempt to sabotage diplomacy. The so-called “offer” of U.S. diplomacy was, in reality, a disingenuous tactic designed to mislead the international community while laying the groundwork for armed attack and acts of aggression, as plainly admitted by the representative of the U.S. in the aforementioned letter. The collapse of diplomatic efforts rests squarely with the United States and Israel, not with Iran.

The use of inflammatory rhetoric, references to political slogans, and historical grievances is wholly irrelevant in determining the legality of the use of force. International law is based on objective criteria, not political narratives. The invocation of threats based on ideology or assumed intentions to justify acts of aggression is a dangerous departure from legal reasoning and argument. The situation is clear and undeniable: the Israeli regime’s acts of aggression, which began on 13 June and persisted for 12 consecutive days, followed by the United States’ unlawful use of force and aggression on 22 June, constitute a flagrant and ongoing violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations. The U.S. breaches the peremptory norm of the prohibition of aggression and the very fundamental principles enshrined in the UN Charter — namely Article 2(4), which categorically prohibits the threat or use of force against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of any Member State. This unlawful act also constitutes a blatant violation of the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), relevant resolutions of the Agency’s General Conference, United Nations Security Council Resolutions 487 (1981) and 2231 (2015), as well as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) itself. It also dealt a severe blow to the credibility and integrity of the global non-proliferation regime as a whole.

The United States must be held fully accountable for its direct act of aggression and for its unequivocal complicity in the large-scale military aggression carried out by the Israeli regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran. In full coordination with the United States, the Israeli regime deliberately and systematically targeted civilian populations, hospitals, medical facilities, media centers, and essential infrastructure in clear violation of international law. The result of this brutal and criminal campaign has been catastrophic: so far, 935 civilians have lost their lives—among them were 38 children and 132 women, including two pregnant women, while 4,935 others were injured. More than five medical centers and hospitals were directly bombed, and 29 healthcare and relief workers were killed in the line of duty. Among the most heinous of these attacks was the deliberate attack on Evin Prison in Tehran, which led to the loss of life of 71 detainees. The destruction of Evin’s medical facilities rendered it impossible to deliver life-saving care to critically ill prisoners. These atrocities constitute egregious violations of the fundamental principle of distinction under international humanitarian law, which requires aggressors to distinguish at all times between civilian objects and military objectives. The United States, together with Israel, is responsible for all innocent Iranian people who lost their lives during the 12 days of Israeli brutal and barbaric attacks, and for the extensive destruction of vital civilian infrastructure, and for damaging Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities.

It is a bitter and tragic irony that the United States—a permanent member of this Council, the depositary of the Treaty on the NPT, and the only country to have ever used nuclear weapons against civilians—has joined acts of aggression, with the Israeli regime that possesses thousands of nuclear warheads, remains outside the NPT, has a long and well-documented record of threatening other nations with nuclear annihilation, and committed to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, have resorted to the unlawful use of force and acts of aggression, in flagrant violation of international law, the UN Charter, the IAEA Statute, and NPT and non- proliferation regime, against a responsible member of the United Nations and the NPT, under the fabricated and entirely baseless pretext of “preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

Excellency,

In light of these grave violations and their far-reaching consequences, silence is not an option. For the sake of the credibility, integrity, and authority of the United Nations system as a whole, the Security Council and the Secretary-General must not only break their silence but also act decisively. Failure to do so renders the UN complicit through inaction and risks irreparable damage to the very principles upon which it was founded. The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates its call on members of the Security Council and the Secretary General to:

Condemn in the strongest possible terms the unlawful use of force and acts of aggression against the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran, including its safeguarded, peaceful nuclear facilities, by the Israeli regime and the United States, as a flagrant violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, international law, UN Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015) and Resolution 487 (1981), the IAEA statue, and relevant IAEA General Conference Resolutions; and

Determine that the Israeli regime and the United States are the initiators of the act of aggression and take effective enforcement measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, to hold them fully responsible, including their obligation to provide full compensation and reparation for the harm inflicted and to ensure that such unlawful acts of aggression are not repeated in the future.

The Islamic Republic of Iran also reiterates its call, once more, on the Secretary-General to:

Submit a report to the Security Council and the wider membership on the status of implementation of operative paragraph 2 of Resolution 487 (1981), particularly in relation to the Israeli regime’s violations and targeting of peaceful nuclear sites and facilities under the safeguards of the IAEA.

I would be grateful if the present letter could be circulated as a document of the Security Council.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Amir Saeid Iravani

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

H.E. Mr. Antonio Guterres

Secretary-General

United Nations, New York

H.E. Ms. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett

President of the Security Council

United Nations, New York