UNITED NATIONS: Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amir-Saeid Iravani has said that Iran’s retaliatory operations are directed only at locations from where attacks against the country are launched.
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the President of the United Nations Security Council on Saturday, Iravani said Iran’s actions were in response to what he described as ongoing aggression by the United States and Israel.
The letter was sent on the eighth day of the conflict, which Iran has termed illegal military aggression.
Iravani stated that under United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314, if a country allows its territory to be used by another state to launch attacks against a third country, the act constitutes aggression.
He emphasized that governments are responsible for preventing foreign military forces stationed on their territory from carrying out attacks on other states.
“If a government allows its territory to be used for such actions, it bears legal responsibility for the aggression,” he said.
The Iranian envoy also said that Tehran had taken what he described as appropriate defensive measures against military bases and facilities used by the United States and Israel in the region.
He maintained that these actions fall within Iran’s inherent right to self-defense.
“Nothing can deny or weaken the Islamic Republic’s inherent right to defend itself against the military aggression of the United States and the Israeli regime,” Iravani said.
He added that Iran’s operations were aimed solely at locations that serve as the origin of attacks against the Iranian people or support such actions.
Iravani further said that countries in the region were aware that the presence of United States military bases on their soil had not contributed to regional stability, but instead facilitated attacks against Iranian civilians.