Iran's FM urges international condemnation of US strikes on nucler sites

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who arrived in Moscow on June 22, has sharply condemned the US over recent airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

“The US aggression must be unequivocally condemned. We highly value Russia’s stance, which on Sunday resolutely denounced this strike. We hope that concrete steps will follow in the UN Security Council and other international bodies,” Araghchi said, Caliber.Az reports, citing Iranian media.

According to Araghchi, the US strike is not only a violation of the UN Charter but also an attack on international legal norms, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and the entire non-proliferation regime.

“When a country’s nuclear facilities are attacked and this is boasted about, while the UN Security Council and the IAEA are incapable of issuing even a formal condemnation, one must ask — what protection does the non-proliferation regime actually offer to states pursuing peaceful nuclear energy?”

He emphasised that the US and Israeli strikes were carried out without any justification and had no self-defence character, describing Iran’s actions as “legitimate self-defence against aggression.”

Araghchi also noted that the consequences of these events go far beyond Iran:
“This is a challenge to the entire international community, legal norms, and global stability.”

He further stressed that Iran and Russia share “common concerns, threats, and adversaries,” and expressed confidence that his visit to Moscow would include “close consultations and coordination to develop a joint approach to the new challenges.”

To recall, on June 21, American forces conducted airstrikes on three key Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. The attacks, described by US President Trump as a “spectacular military success,” aimed to dismantle Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities, which the US and Israel claim pose a severe threat to global security.

The US operation involved B-2 Spirit stealth bombers deploying GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), 30,000-pound “bunker-buster” bombs designed to penetrate deeply buried targets. The primary target, Fordow, is a heavily fortified uranium enrichment facility located 300 feet beneath a mountain south of Tehran, making it one of Iran’s most secure nuclear sites. Six B-2 bombers dropped a dozen MOPs on Fordow, while US Navy submarines launched 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Natanz and Isfahan, according to US officials. Trump claimed the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities.

By Khagan Isayev