In a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, the Iranian Foreign Minister called on the Security Council to recognize the Israeli regime and the United States as the initiators of the aggressive act and to acknowledge their subsequent responsibility, including the payment of reparations and compensation for damages.
The full text of the letter is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
With reference to the letter dated 13 June 2025 (S/2025/379) regarding the aggressive action by the Israeli regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran during the period from 13 June 2025 to 24 June 2025, and other related correspondence, I hereby wish to reiterate the necessity for the United Nations Security Council to fulfill its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Since the beginning of the Israeli regime’s aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran on 13 June—which constitutes a blatant violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter—a number of residential areas, civilians, and civilian infrastructure have been deliberately targeted, constituting a clear breach of international law. While the full scale of the damage is still under assessment, several hospitals and relief centers have been attacked, which represents a serious violation of international humanitarian law. In addition, certain energy facilities have been targeted with the intent of disrupting the daily lives of civilians. Nuclear facilities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the cities of Qom, Arak, Natanz, and Isfahan have also been attacked by the Israeli regime and the United States, which is a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), IAEA documents, and related resolutions.
These unilateral attacks against Iran violate several fundamental principles of international law, including:
- The right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);
- The international prohibition on the use of force under Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and customary international law (General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV), 1970: Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations), which constitutes a peremptory norm (jus cogens);
- The prohibition of aggression (General Assembly Resolution 3314 (XXIX), 1974: Definition of Aggression);
- The obligation of non-intervention in the internal affairs of another state (General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV), 1970: Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations);
- The obligation to respect the sovereignty of other states; and
- The Iranian people’s right to self-determination under Article 1(2) of the UN Charter and Common Article 1 of both the ICCPR and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Following this aggression, a significant number of UN member states and regional and international organizations have strongly condemned this aggression and attacks, describing them as a serious violation of the UN Charter. These include:
- The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) via its statement dated 13 June 2025,
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) via its statement dated 17 June 2025,
- The BRICS group via its statement dated 25 June 2025,
- The Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter via its statements dated 14 and 24 June 2025,
- The Arab League via its statement dated 21 June 2025,
- And the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) via its statement dated 17 June 2025.
Additionally, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), through its resolution dated 22 June 2025, also strongly condemned these aggressions.
While these actions represent the minimum required under the rule of law at the international level—particularly considering the universal obligation of states not to recognize violations of peremptory norms of international law—the primary responsibility of the UN Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security, as entrusted to it under Article 24(1) of the Charter, remains both essential and undeniable.
Therefore, given the current circumstances and in order to uphold the provisions of the UN Charter—and considering that the Security Council, under Article 39 of the Charter, is obligated to determine the existence of an act of aggression by the Israeli regime against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran—we hereby formally request that the Security Council recognize the Israeli regime and the United States of America as the initiators of the aggressive act and acknowledge their ensuing responsibility, including the payment of reparations and compensation for damages.
Furthermore, the Security Council must hold the perpetrators of this aggression accountable and take measures to prevent the recurrence of such heinous and grave crimes, thereby enabling it to fulfill its duty to maintain international peace and security. It should also be noted that political and military leaders who order the commission of an act of aggression are, under customary international law, individually criminally responsible for the international crime of aggression.
It must also be emphasized that this aggressive action constitutes a brazen assault on the fundamental pillars of international law, and any disregard for it and its legal consequences will seriously undermine the credibility of the United Nations system, create a real threat to the rule of law at the international level, and pave the way for future lawlessness in international relations both in our region and in the global community.
