Iran Defends Right to Retaliate After U.S. Strikes Nuclear Facilities, UN Envoy Warns
New York, June 23, 2025— After three of Iran’s nuclear sites were attacked by US planes early Sunday, the country said it had the “complete and lawful right” to respond to what it calls “blatant military aggression” by the US. During an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, who is Iran’s permanent representative to the UN, made the announcement.
An angry Iravani spoke out against the U.S. attacks on peaceful nuclear sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow, calling them a “shameful chapter” in U.S. political history. He said that the attack was planned by former U.S. President Donald Trump and that Trump himself announced it on social media.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is a free and peaceful country, and we have warned the hostile U.S. government many times of what would happen if they attacked,” Iravani said. “This means that Iran still has the right to defend itself under international law and Article 51 of the UN Charter.”
The Iranian envoy called the attacks “planned and unprovoked” and linked them to the recent Israeli military action in Iran that has killed more than 400 people since last Friday. Besides that, he said that the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had “double standards” and “selective silence” when it came to security threats against Iran.
World Condemnation
During the meeting, a number of big powers agreed with Iran that the U.S. and Israeli strikes were wrong.
Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s ambassador, said that the attacks were a “complete humiliation of the international community” and attacked Security Council members from the West for not doing anything about them. He said, “The US has shown once more that it doesn’t care about peace or stability around the world.”
Fu Cong, China’s representative, said the same thing, calling the strikes “a dangerous violation of the UN Charter and international law.” He said that these kinds of military activities hurt the global agreement to keep nuclear weapons from getting into the wrong hands and put regional and global peace at risk.
Pakistan also said they were very worried. Its UN representative, Iftikhar Ahmad, called the attacks “a clear breach of international law” and asked the Security Council to move right away.
Ahmad said, “The time for silence is over.” “We strongly urge the Council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate and complete end to the fighting and the start of peaceful talks again.”
Increasing tensions between countries
The attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities have made people worry about a bigger conflict in the area, and Tehran is now openly thinking about how to respond. Analysts say that if things keep getting worse, it could hurt the world’s oil markets and make it harder to negotiate peace in the Middle East.
Iran says its nuclear program is completely safe, and it is still subject to the strictest inspections in the world. On the other hand, Israel, which most people think has nuclear weapons, has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Iranian and other officials have stressed this point many times.
As long as there are disagreements on the UN Security Council, the situation could get worse. Iran wants the rest of the world to hold both the US and Israel responsible.
“The world cannot stand this era of impunity any longer,” Iravani said. “Iran will protect its people, its sovereignty, and its future in a strong way that follows international law.” [1]