Iravani: Iran to defend itself decisively in face of any aggression
Tehran - BORNA - Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Amir Saeed Iravani, following US President Donald Trump’s new threats against Iran, condemned “these reckless threats” in a letter to the Security Council and the UN Secretary-General.
Iravani said that the grave and explicit threat of the use of force by US President Donald Trump is a clear and serious violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and Iran calls on this Council to condemn it firmly and unequivocally.
The full text of Iravani’s letter to the UNSC is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Excellencies,
Upon instructions from my Government, I wish to draw your urgent attention to yet another serious instance of the violation of international law, namely the grave and explicit threats of the use of force by the President of the United States of America against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
During a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of the Israeli regime on 29 December 2025, the President of the United States stated: "If Iran continues with its missile program, yes, I support striking Iran. Ifthey continue with their nuclear program, the strike should be immediate. He blatantly threatened Iran by saying that "We 're going to have to knock them down. We 'Il knock them down. We 'Il knock the hell out ofthem.
These provocative and escalatory statements threatening the use of force, directed against the Islamic Republic of Iran, constitute a manifest and flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, in particular Article 2(4), which unequivocally prohibits both the use and the threat of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State.
The precedent set by the unwarranted and unlawful aggression jointly carried out by the United States and the Israeli regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran between 13 and 24 June 2025 makes it even more crucial to rebuke and reject the recent threatening statements of the US President.
In fact, these statements do not constitute mere rhetoric but a renewed and explicit threat to continue an unlawful course of conduct based on an intent that would entail international responsibility for the United States.
On 6 November 2025, the President of the United States openly acknowledged the responsibility and direct involvement of the United States in the June 2025 aggression, which involved deliberate attacks against civilians, critical infrastructure, and peaceful nuclear facilities under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) comprehensive safeguards. As stated in the letter by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran dated 12 November 2025 (S/2025/743), such an admission entails individual criminal responsibility for the President of the United States and other United States officials involved in grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including the crime of aggression.
The President of the United States, standing side by side with the Israeli Prime Minister, an internationally indicted war criminal, is cynically seeking to threaten the Islamic Republic of Iran and to deny its inherent NPT-enshrined rights, as well as its legitimate sovereign right to the means essential for self-defense.
It is deeply regrettable that these explicit threats come from a nuclear-weapon State and depository of the NPT, with a long and consistent record of gross violations of its Treaty obligations, including by attacking peaceful nuclear facilities of a non-nuclear State.
The US also continues to lend unconditional support to, and collaborate with, the Israeli regime as the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in West Asia, which has threatened the use of weapons of mass destruction against other nations in the region with complete impunity. This represents a persistent and blatant double standard, severely undermining regional and international security and constituting a direct assault on the integrity of the global non-proliferation regime.
The persistent inaction and paralysis of the Security Council in the face of such explicit threats and acts of aggression have entrenched a dangerous climate of impunity. This failure has emboldened the United States and the Israeli regime—acting with the full political, military, and diplomatic backing of the United States—to continue their unlawful conduct, thereby posing a grave and direct threat to regional and international peace and security.
In light of the foregoing, the Islamic Republic of Iran calls upon the Security Council, and in particular its responsible members, to: unequivocally and strongly condemn the explicit threat of the use of force against Iran by the United States as a clear and serious violation of the objectives and principles of the Charter of the United Nations; demand that the United States immediately comply with its obligations under the Charter and international law, cease all threats or uses of force, and discharge its responsibilities as a permanent member of the Security Council in a manner consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations; and act decisively and without selectivity to prevent further escalation arising from the continued impunity and blatant disregard for international law by a permanent member of the Council and its regional stooge, the Israeli regime.
Failure to do so would not only further undermine international peace and security, but would also gravely erode the credibility, authority, and legitimacy of the Security Council itself, entrusted with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The prohibition of the threat or use of force constitutes an erga omnes obligation owed to the international community as a whole, and its violation cannot be ignored or excused without inflicting lasting damage on the international legal order upon which the United Nations is built.
The Islamic Republic of Iran unequivocally condemns these reckless threats and reaffirms its inherent and inalienable right to self-defense in accordance with Article 5 1 of the Charter of the United Nations against any armed attack or act of aggression. Iran will exercise this right decisively and proportionately should its sovereignty, territorial integrity, people, or vital national interests be subjected to further acts of aggression.
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