Iran condemns Israeli attacks as “war crimes’ in letter to UN chief

Iran has strongly condemned Israel’s recent military strikes on its territory, calling them “blatant violations of international law” and demanding international accountability in a formal letter to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and the President of the Security Council, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad.

In a letter dated July 10, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Saeed Iravani, accused Israel of carrying out a 12-day campaign of unprovoked military aggression that resulted in extensive civilian casualties and infrastructure damage, Caliber.Az reports via Iranian media.

“In the early hours of 13 June 2025, while Iranian families were at rest, the Israeli regime ­backed by extensive military, intelligence, and political support from the United States and certain Western countries- launched coordinated air, missile, and drone attacks,” Iravani wrote. “These indiscriminate and illegal attacks martyred 1,100 innocent civilians, including 132 women and 45 children, and injured over 5,700 others.”

The ambassador described the strikes as targeting “residential areas, civilian infrastructure, and peaceful nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards,” asserting that they constitute “war crimes, crimes of aggression, and crimes against humanity.”

Iran also criticised the United States for its alleged involvement, referring to the U.S. military actions on June 22 as a further escalation. “The subsequent US military aggression… further compounded these violations,” the letter stated.

The Iranian envoy attached an updated report from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, detailing what he described as “a glimpse into the suffering inflicted on Iranian civilians—especially women and children.”

“These heinous crimes constitute grave violations of the UN Charter, international law, international humanitarian law… and international human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR,” the letter read.

Iran called on the international community to take urgent action to hold the perpetrators accountable and ensure an end to what it described as a cycle of impunity.

The letter concluded with a formal request for the communication and its annex to be circulated as an official document of the UN Security Council.

By Vugar Khalilov