Ambassador's Statement at UNSC: Zionist Regime's Acts of Aggression
Iran's Ambassador has delivered a statement before the UN Security Council during an emergency meeting to discuss the Zionist Regime of Israel's acts of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The full text of the statement is as follows:
Statement by
H.E. Mr. Amir Saeid Iravani
Ambassador and Permanent Representative
of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
Before the UNSC Emergency Meeting
New York, 20 June 2025
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
We express our sincere appreciation to you, Madam President, for convening this urgent meeting at our request. We welcome the presence of the Secretary-General at this meeting and thank him for his introductory remarks. We also extend our gratitude to Under-Secretary-General Ms. DiCarlo for her valuable briefing. We thank Algeria, Pakistan, China, and the Russian Federation for supporting this meeting and for their clear condemnation of Israeli brutal attacks.
Madam President,
On 13 June, Israel launched a large-scale, unprovoked military attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Civilian cities, including Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, and Kermanshah, were deliberately targeted.
The strikes were planned and systematic, killing senior military officials, scientists, professors, students, doctors, artists, athletes, rescuers, and ordinary civilians, including women, children, and infants. Many died in their sleep. Hundreds of civilians have been killed, and thousands injured.
The aggression continues. On 16 June, Israel attacked Hakim Children’s Hospital in Tehran, Farabi Rehabilitation Hospital in Kermanshah, the Iranian Red Crescent Society building, and medical ambulances; these are only a few instances of the brutality and gross violation of international humanitarian law by the Israeli regime.
At least two pregnant women and their unborn children were killed. On the same day, Israel struck the national broadcaster, IRIB, during a live broadcast, killing journalists and humanitarian workers.
Just today, the Israeli regime inflicted damage to two other hospitals in Iran, endangering the lives of patients and medical personnel.
Up until now, five hospitals have suffered from the heinous attacks of the Israeli regime, along with physicians and humanitarian personnel who have been killed or injured.
These were not accidents. These were not “collateral damage.” They were deliberate war crimes, acts of state terror, and examples of barbaric warfare.
Madam President, Excellencies, and Colleagues,
Israel also attacked Iran’s peaceful, safeguarded nuclear sites and facilities.
On 13 June, it struck the Uranium Conversion Facility and the Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant.
On 18 June, it targeted centrifuge production sites in Tehran and Karaj, both under IAEA monitoring.
And on 19 June, it attacked the Arak Heavy Water Reactor, built under JCPOA terms and IAEA safeguards, with no proliferation risk.
These attacks violate the UN Charter, international law, the IAEA Statute, and Security Council Resolutions 2231 (2015) and 487 (1981).
Israel’s strikes are an assault on the global non-proliferation regime.
Security Council Resolution 487, which was adopted unanimously, clearly states that any military attack on safeguarded nuclear facilities is an attack on the entire IAEA safeguards system and the NPT itself.
The Security Council must implement its resolution.
If the Council fails to act now, it will send the message that international law and resolutions apply selectively.
If the non-proliferation regime collapses, this Council will share responsibility with the Israeli regime.
Madam President,
Despite Iran’s repeated warnings about threats to our peaceful nuclear sites and facilities, the IAEA Director General has failed to act.
His silence undermines the Agency’s authority, neutrality, and credibility.
The IAEA cannot remain silent while safeguarded facilities are attacked. This inaction must end.
Israel openly declares that it will continue these strikes “for as many days as it takes.”
We are alarmed by credible reports that the United States, a Depositary of the NPT, may be joining this war. Any such support violates the NPT and undermines global security.
The selective invocation of international law by the US and France, using it when convenient, discarding it when it constrains their allies, is a form of institutional hypocrisy that gravely undermines the credibility of this Council and international law.
Let me be clear:
- Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and under the world’s most extensive IAEA inspections;
- Iran has long advocated for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East; and
- Israel is the only possessor of undeclared nuclear weapons in the region. It refuses to accede to the NPT and blocks regional disarmament efforts.
Madam President,
Israel’s aggression violates the UN Charter:
- It breaches the basic principle of prohibition on the use of force (Article 2(4) of the UN Charter);
- It violates Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity; and
- It violates IHL, international human rights law, and targets innocent civilians and threatens the right to life and security of our people.
This regime committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and state terrorism. Its attacks on safeguarded nuclear facilities set a dangerous precedent for global security.
Madam President,
The already dire situation has been exacerbated by mounting and irrefutable evidence of direct involvement by the United States in this illegal war of aggression.
The U.S. has publicly threatened to strike Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities.
Such acts constitute a flagrant violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and a breach of the sovereign equality of States.
These reckless statements and actions emanate from the Head of State, who is a permanent member of this Council and entrusted with primary responsibility for international peace and security, and an irresponsible behavior.
Madam President,
Iran has exercised its inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
Our responses have complied fully with international law, including humanitarian law, and we have taken all necessary precautions to protect civilians. Iran will continue to exercise this right as long as the Security Council fails to discharge its primary responsibility under the Charter and until the Israeli aggression is fully and unequivocally terminated.
The Security Council must act now. We reiterate our call on the Council to:
- Determine that Israel’s illegal use of force and armed attacks against Iran are a breach of the peace and acts of aggression (Article 39 of the Charter);
- Adopt binding and enforcement measures under Chapter VII to halt the aggression and prevent its recurrence;
- Condemn clearly the violation of Iran’s sovereignty and the targeting of our safeguarded nuclear facilities; and
- Address the risk of wider regional war, especially the unlawful involvement of a third country.
Madam President,
The lies and fabrications used by the representative of the Israeli regime and its Western allies do not work anymore to whitewash and justify its horrendous crimes.
International law is clear; there is no right for Israel to commit these acts of aggression.
No right to attack and target civilians, civilian infrastructure or safeguarded nuclear facilities. No legal or moral cover for war crimes.
The so-called “preemptive attack” and “existential threat” claims used by this terrorist regime and its allies to justify aggression have no basis in international law, and to conduct acts of aggression, kill innocent people, and violate the territorial integrity of States.
These are false excuses for Israel’s aggression. Iran has never initiated any war, while Israel, as an occupying and terrorist regime, has a long and dark history of illegal use of force, violations of all legal international norms, assassinations, and nuclear secrecy that destabilize the entire region.
The selective use of international law by certain members of this Council exposes dangerous double standards that endanger international peace and security and undermine the credibility of this body.
Without the support and protection of certain Western States, especially the United States, Israel could not have been able to commit this aggression with such impunity. Their complicity must be recorded by history.
Finally, Madam President,
Council’s failure to act at this critical juncture would constitute a profound abdication of the Council's responsibilities and a grave betrayal of the foundational principles of the United Nations.
Inaction will:
- Embolden the aggressor;
- Undermine international law; and
- Send a message of dangerous impunity to the world.
Thank you, Madam President.