Araghchi’s Letter to the United Nations and the Security Council Following the Assassination of the Leader of the Islami
Tehran - BORNA - Araghchi formally and unequivocally requested that the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council fulfill their responsibilities under the UN Charter in maintaining international peace and security and adopt immediate, concrete, and effective measures to ensure the full accountability of the United States and the Israeli regime for the terrorist act.
The full text of the letter reads as follows:
“I hereby draw Your Excellency’s urgent attention to the latest appalling and criminal act committed by the United States of America and the Israeli regime against the great nation of Iran. Failure to respond decisively to such conduct will not only embolden its perpetrators but will also inflict lasting and irreparable damage upon the foundations of the international legal order for decades to come.
In a new series of aggressive, unprovoked, and unjustified acts against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United States and the Israeli regime deliberately targeted the highest official authority of a sovereign Member State of the United Nations — the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei — on February 28, 2026. This cowardly terrorist act, carried out in blatant violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, constitutes a direct assault on the most fundamental principles of international law, including the prohibition of the use of force, the principle of sovereign equality of States, and the inviolability and immunity of Heads of State. Such an act establishes a dangerous and unprecedented precedent that undermines the core norms governing state sovereignty and civilized conduct among nations. Heads of State embody the sovereignty of their nations and, under international law, are inviolable, respected, and immune — principles essential to the independent performance of their official functions.
Therefore, the deliberate targeting of the highest official authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran constitutes a grave and unprecedented violation of the most fundamental norms governing relations among States. Such conduct is not merely a breach of established principles of international law; it recklessly creates dangerous and unforeseen consequences and weakens the foundation of sovereign equality and the stability of the international system.
Furthermore, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was not only the highest official authority of the country but also a religious figure respected by tens of millions of Muslims in the region and around the world. Such an attack carries profound and far-reaching consequences, the full responsibility for which rests exclusively with its perpetrators.
This in no way negates the inherent and legitimate right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and people in full conformity with Article 51 of the UN Charter.
The aforementioned act was committed in flagrant disregard of binding principles of international law and customary international law, including those enshrined in the 1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons. This act entails the international responsibility of the States concerned and also gives rise to the individual criminal responsibility of the President of the United States, the so-called Prime Minister of the Israeli regime, and all persons involved in the planning, ordering, authorizing, perpetrating, or otherwise aiding and abetting this criminal act.
The foregoing does not preclude prosecution and accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression that are continuously committed by agents of the United States and the Israeli regime.
In light of the above, and at a time when the normalization of gross violations of international law threatens the integrity of the international system, the Islamic Republic of Iran formally and unequivocally calls upon the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Security Council to fulfill their Charter-mandated responsibilities in maintaining international peace and security and to adopt immediate, specific, and effective measures to ensure the full accountability of the United States and the Israeli regime for the aforementioned heinous terrorist act.
I would be grateful if you would have the present letter circulated as an official document of the Security Council.”
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