Iran slams ‘unjust and unlawful’ UNSC resolution amid US-Israeli aggression

“We do not recognize the council’s action today,” Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani said in a statement on Wednesday, after a Bahrain-drafted resolution was passed by the Security Council.

“We consider it unjust and unlawful, inconsistent with the United Nations Charter and international law, and an action that completely disregards the established principles governing the determination of acts of aggression and breaches of the peace,” it added.

The following is the full text of the statement:

At the outset, I must express our profound regret over the Council’s action today. This is a deeply regrettable day for the Security Council and for the international community. Today’s adoption is a serious setback to the Council’s credibility and leaves a lasting stain on its record.

Today’s action represents a blatant misuse of the Security Council’s mandate in pursuit of the political agendas of certain members. The very State responsible for this brutal war of aggression against my country—the regime of the United States—sits on the other side of this Chamber as President of the Council, abusing its position while obstructing every effort to bring an end to this barbaric war against the Iranian people and preventing the Council from fulfilling its Charter-based responsibilities.

Let me make it clear, this resolution is a manifest injustice against my country, the main victim of a clear act of aggression. It distorts the realities on the ground and deliberately ignores the root causes of the current crisis.

The very purpose of this biased and politically motivated text, which was pushed by Israelis regime and the United States,  is clear: to reverse the roles and positions of victim and aggressor. It rewards the regimes of the United States and Israel, which have violated the UN Charter and committed acts of aggression. In doing so, it establishes impunity and sends a wrong message to the international community—emboldening the aggressors to commit further crimes.

Accordingly, we do not recognize the Council’s action today. We consider it unjust and unlawful, inconsistent with the United Nations Charter and international law, and an action that completely disregards the established principles governing the determination of acts of aggression and breaches of the peace.

Make no mistake: today it is Iran; tomorrow it could be any other sovereign State.

We thank Russia and China for their constructive efforts.

Those members that voted in favor of this resolution—particularly the European members of the Council, including France, the United Kingdom, Greece, Denmark, and Latvia—have demonstrated that their repeated claims of defending the UN Charter and the principles of international law are nothing more than empty words and hollow rhetoric. These members lacked even the minimal courage to acknowledge the perpetrators of the aggression—Israel and the United States—while concerning the violations of the Charter and international law and speaking of international peace and security.

By deliberately ignoring the flagrant violation of the most fundamental principle of the UN Charter—the prohibition of the use of force—these members have once again shown that, for them, respect for the Charter and international law is selective and subordinate to political agendas.

Their hypocritical and irresponsible conduct once again demonstrates that political considerations take precedence over their professed commitment to international law and the UN Charter. It is evident that these countries are simply implementing political instructions from Washington rather than exercising independent judgment and decision.

Regrettably, some members, distorting the reality and facts on the grounds and made a cynical and blatant attempt to blame Iran and accuse and condemn Iran, while ignoring the root causes of the current situation, whitewashing the US and Israel's heinous crimes and military aggression, especially the massacre of 170 school’s girls in Minab, as it was Iran that initiated this war.

We categorically and strongly reject all the baseless and politically motivated accusations made by some members against my country, which are entirely devoid of any legal foundation.  The aim of these accusations is clear: to distort the reality, deflect the attention of the international community from war crimes and crimes against humanity that have been and are being committed against the people of Iran by the Israelis regime and the United States. But the facts prove otherwise and speak loudly and clearly.

 Against this backdrop, I now wish to emphasize the following points:

First, the root causes of the current situation are clear and simple; on 28 February 2026, the United States and the Israeli regime launched a military attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran in flagrant violation of Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter and the peremptory norm (jus cogens) prohibiting aggression.

This is an illegal, illegitimate,  and unprovoked war that began with the cowardly terrorist assassination of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the highest official of a sovereign Member State of the United Nations, along with several senior State officials, and resulted in the deaths and injuries of thousands of civilians.

This aggression was accompanied by coordinated attacks on both military and civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, residential buildings, sports facilities, public service centers, and relief facilities across the country. These acts constitute grave violations of international law and serious breaches of international humanitarian law.

Senior officials of the aggressor States, including the President of the United States and the criminal Prime Minister of Israel, have publicly acknowledged and justified these attacks, thereby openly admitting responsibility for this unlawful act of aggression.

Since 28 February 2026, the continued military strikes by the United States and the Israeli regime have martyred more than 1,348 civilians, including women and children, more than 17,000 civilians injured, and destroyed or damaged 19,734 civilian sites.

These include 16191 residential homes, 1,617 commercial and service centers, 77 medical and pharmaceutical facilities, 65 schools and educational institutions, 16 Red Crescent buildings, and multiple energy infrastructure facilities. The scale and systematic nature of these attacks clearly constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Second, in response to this deliberate and unjustified aggression, the Islamic Republic of Iran has exercised, and continues to exercise, its inherent right of self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and in light of the failure of the United Nations Security Council to discharge its duties and responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations, has undertaken necessary and proportionate defensive operations against the bases and facilities of the aggressors in the region.

Such actions are lawful under international law and have been clearly and repeatedly warned of in advance through various channels and at different levels. Our response is lawful, necessary, and proportionate. Iran targets only the military objectives of the aggressors. Our assessment indicates that some of these incidents may have resulted from interceptions by United States defense systems, which could have diverted from intended military targets.

Third, since the beginning of this aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran by the United States and Israeli regime, the aggressors have also used the territories and facilities of certain third States in the region to launch unlawful military attacks.  

Under the fundamental principle of international law, States are prohibited from knowingly allowing their territory to be used, directly or indirectly, to cause damage to other States. In addition, UN General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974 (Article 3(f) has clearly categorized and recognized that “the action of a State in allowing its territory, which it has placed at the disposal of another State, to be used by that State for perpetrating an act of aggression against a third State” as an act of aggression.

Furthermore, as a principle of international law emanating from the jus cogens character of “prohibition of aggression”, States must undertake all necessary measures to prevent foreign armed forces based in their territory from committing acts of aggression against other States and must not facilitate or support such acts. It is evident that, in the event of a breach of these fundamental obligations, a State whose territory has been used to carry out acts of aggression against a third State bears international legal responsibility, including responsibility for the reparation of direct and indirect damages resulting from such acts.

Similarly, the measures claimed to have been taken by the United Kingdom and certain other states outside the region under the pretext of a so-called right of individual or collective self-defense are devoid of any legal basis and are wholly unjustifiable under international law. Such actions may themselves constitute acts of aggression. Moreover, these States have deliberately refrained from identifying the original aggressors—namely the United States and the Israeli regime—and have, in effect, attempted to reverse the roles of victim and aggressor.

Fourth, the aggressors, in particular the United States, are under an obligation to make full reparation for the injury caused by the ongoing violations against Iran and its citizens, including any damage incurred. Furthermore, the individual criminal responsibility of the President of the United States and any other U.S. officials and individuals involved in grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including for directing deliberate attacks against civilians and launching willful attacks against civilian objects, is beyond doubt.

Fifth, the Islamic Republic of Iran remains committed to maintaining friendly relations with the countries in the Persian Gulf region, based on mutual respect, the principle of good-neighborliness, and respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Iran reemphasizes that its defensive operations targeting United States military bases and facilities in the region are in no way against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the regional countries.

Although the Israeli regime has succeeded in dragging the United States into a regional conflict, Iran’s relations with its neighbors are rooted in long-standing historical, cultural, and geographical ties. Once the current tensions diminish, Iran and its neighboring countries will inevitably return to their traditional relations of cooperation, mutual respect, and good neighborliness.

 Iran, as a co-founder of the UN and a responsible member, has consistently honored its obligations, respected international law, and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and the claim that Iran has closed the Strait is simply untrue. Meanwhile, Iran will never abandon its rights under international law to protect its sovereignty, territorial integrity, national and vital interests, as it deems necessary.

Sixth, the Council must confront the real source of the threat to regional and international peace and security and act without delay to stop this bloody war against the Iranian people. It must compel the aggressors—the United States and Israel—to immediately cease all military attacks against Iran, including against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and ensure full accountability for these grave violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes.