Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations: The Security Council Must Firmly Condemn the U.S. Military Aggression

According to Saed News, at the United Nations headquarters, Amir Saeed Iravani, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative, in the third emergency meeting of the UN Security Council regarding the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, added:

After the illegitimate Israeli regime failed to carry out the “dirty work” of the West, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, was forced, in the early hours of Sunday, June 22, 2025, personally and directly, to execute the most disgraceful part of this vile scenario.

Iravani emphasized: The aggressions of the United States and the Israeli regime constitute a clear and blatant violation of international law. These actions violate the peremptory norm prohibiting aggression and also the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, especially Article 2, paragraph 4, which explicitly forbids any threat or use of force against the sovereignty or territorial integrity of any UN member state. This illegal act also violates the UN Charter, the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), relevant resolutions of the IAEA General Conference, Security Council Resolutions 487 (1981) and 2231 (2015), as well as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty itself.

The Iranian ambassador to the UN stated: Iran is acting within its inherent and legal right of legitimate self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. We will take all necessary and appropriate measures to protect our people, national sovereignty, territorial integrity, vital national interests, and peaceful nuclear program, in accordance with international law.

Addressing the UN Security Council, he said: This council must act decisively. Silence means complicity in these crimes. If this council refrains from action and condemnation of this clear aggression, the stigma of complicity—just as it remains for Gaza—will forever stain its conscience.

The full text of Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN follows:

We thank all countries that have stood on the right side of history and explicitly condemned the aggressive actions of the United States of America and the Zionist regime against my country.

Today, for the third time since the start of brutal aggressions against my country—first by the Israeli regime on June 13, and now by the United States of America—I speak before this council. With utmost urgency and deep concern, I speak on behalf of our people, a peace-loving nation with a population close to one hundred million.

Today, another stain of disgrace was added to the political history of the United States.

After the illegitimate Israeli regime failed to carry out the “dirty work” of the West, Donald Trump was forced in the early hours of Sunday, June 22, 2025, personally and directly, to carry out the most disgraceful part of this vile scenario.

Benjamin Netanyahu, this internationally wanted war criminal, once again succeeded in holding U.S. foreign policy hostage and pushed America into another baseless and costly war.

The U.S. once again recklessly sacrificed its own security for Netanyahu’s survival, and the world witnessed blatant corruption in the U.S. political system and its leaders.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, as an independent and peace-seeking country, had repeatedly warned the warlike U.S. regime to avoid falling into this quagmire.

Now, Iran, based on international law, reserves its full and legitimate right to defend itself against this clear aggression by the United States and its proxy mercenary, the Israeli regime. The time, manner, and scale of Iran’s proportional counter-response will be determined by our armed forces.

The resilient and united Iranian nation has endured deeper wounds throughout history and faced fiercer enemies; this time, too, it will demonstrate its dignity, power, and greatness to the world.

Over the past ten days since the brutal assault by the Zionist regime, all necessary information and warnings have been provided to international bodies including the UN Security Council and the IAEA.

However, these bodies have once again proven that what has been called an 80-year effort to prevent war and aggression is in practice hollow and ineffective.

The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns and denounces this unprovoked and premeditated aggression—a continuation of the extensive military attacks by the Israeli regime against my country and people.

History will never forget these sorrowful days. It is deeply regrettable that a peace-loving country, one of the founders of the United Nations, with over five thousand years of culture and civilization, a responsible member of the UN Charter and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and a non-nuclear country, has become the target of an armed attack by an illegitimate regime and now by its main supporter, the United States, both of which possess thousands of nuclear warheads.

The United States, as a permanent member of this council, custodian of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the only country to have used nuclear weapons, killing millions in two cities, has once again resorted to illegal force under a fabricated and ridiculous pretext of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and has launched a war against my country. What a bitter and tragic contradiction.

The aggressions by the U.S. and Israeli regimes constitute a clear and blatant violation of international law. These actions violate the peremptory norm prohibiting aggression and also the fundamental principles of the UN Charter, especially Article 2 paragraph 4, which explicitly forbids any threat or use of force against the sovereignty or territorial integrity of any UN member state. This illegal act also violates the UN Charter, the IAEA Statute, relevant resolutions of the IAEA General Conference, Security Council Resolutions 487 (1981) and 2231 (2015), and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty itself.

While the U.S. representative continues to repeat baseless accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the international community is well aware of this country’s documented dark record of military interventions, unlawful use of force against other sovereign countries, and support for terrorism in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Facts speak for themselves: all U.S. accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran are unfounded, legally baseless, and entirely politically motivated.

A clear example of this is the brutal and cowardly assassination of Martyr Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with his companions. He was targeted in this cowardly and calculated assassination while on an official trip to Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government. This crime was carried out by U.S. forces under the direct order of the then U.S. president, who yesterday openly accepted responsibility for this heinous act.

Lieutenant General Soleimani will remain an unparalleled hero for the Iranian nation and the nations of the region in the fight against terrorist groups, especially ISIS.

From illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan to disastrous interventions in Libya, the United States has repeatedly ignored the UN Charter, devastated societies, and destabilized the region for decades.

The peoples of these countries continue to pay the price for the reckless policies of the United States.

The Israeli regime’s attack on June 13 and the U.S. airstrikes on June 21 did not happen in a vacuum but are the direct result of the illegal and politicized actions of the United States and its European partners, namely the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, as well as the biased conduct of the IAEA Director General.

Undoubtedly, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France—three permanent members of this council—alongside the Israeli regime and the IAEA Director General, bear full responsibility for the bloodshed of innocent people in Iran, especially women and children, and the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure.

Iran was preparing for the next round of diplomatic interactions with the United States scheduled for June 15, but the Israeli regime decided to attack Iran two days before these talks. In fact, the Israeli regime decided to destroy diplomacy. The so-called diplomatic proposal was nothing but a deceptive trick to mislead the international community.

This week, while the Iranian Foreign Minister was holding talks with the European troika and the European Union, the United States decided to destroy diplomacy. What conclusion can be drawn from this situation? From the perspective of Western countries, Iran should “return to the negotiating table”; but as the Iranian Foreign Minister also emphasized, “How can Iran return to something it has never left?”

The pattern is clear: the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, has become a political tool. This treaty, which should guarantee the legitimate rights of member countries to peaceful nuclear energy, has now become a pretext for aggression and illegal actions that threaten the vital interests of my country.

The selective and double-standard behavior of the IAEA Board of Governors and the Security Council, which have turned a blind eye to the past attack by the Israeli regime on Iraq’s Osirak reactor, its attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites under IAEA safeguards, and the continuation of these regime’s aggressions, is a moral, political, and legal disgrace.

This disgrace will forever tarnish the credibility of these international institutions. Despite such blatant bias, there is no guarantee that other members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will not face similar aggressions in the future.

For more than two decades, Israel—a rogue regime equipped with nuclear weapons that has refused to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty despite Security Council Resolution 487—has promoted the false and deceptive narrative that Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons.

While there is not a single credible document or evidence to prove these unfounded claims, the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken a sincere and good-faith approach toward diplomacy, accepted the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and fully implemented its commitments under Security Council Resolution 2231, proving the entirely peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

Iran acts within its inherent and legal right of legitimate self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. We will take all necessary and appropriate measures to protect our people, national sovereignty, territorial integrity, vital national interests, and peaceful nuclear program, in accordance with international law.

Once again, I wish to remind this institution of the legal and moral responsibilities of the Security Council. If this council and the United Nations, established to maintain international peace and security, fail to fulfill their role at this decisive moment, they will lose their credibility and status forever.

The Zionist regime and the United States are the main agents behind the collapse of the rule of law, the weakening of international law, the IAEA statute, and the non-proliferation regime. However, the silence, double standards, and complicity of some international organizations and Western countries, including France and the United Kingdom, are equally reprehensible.

The UN Security Council must immediately act under Chapter VII of the UN Charter and remedy this injustice and blatant violations through the following measures:
• Strong condemnation of the blatant aggressions, violations, and heinous crimes committed against the Islamic Republic of Iran
• Effective enforcement actions against the aggressors and full accountability of the United States and the Zionist regime
• Placing the Israeli regime’s nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards

This moment is a historic test for this council and for the entire United Nations. Every government and responsible actor must respond to this call and unequivocally condemn these blatant crimes; otherwise, we will witness the gradual decline of the non-proliferation ideal and the institutionalization of a dangerous precedent—one where force replaces law and the fundamental principles of the UN Charter are violated with impunity.

We stand at a historic crossroads. Let this moment mark the end of impunity; a moment to uphold the principles on which this council was founded.

This council must act decisively. Silence means complicity in these crimes. If this council refrains from action and condemnation of this clear aggression, the stain of complicity—as it remains in Gaza—will forever remain on its conscience and forehead.