A senior Iranian diplomat has warned the United Nations that the United States would be held responsible over its role in aiding and abetting Israel as it plans to strike the Islamic Republic in a worsening series of escalations to rock the region over the past year, according to a letter obtained by Newsweek.
The letter, sent Monday by Iranian Permanent Representative to the U.N. Saeid Amir Iravani to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Security Council President Pascale Christine Baeriswyl, condemned the “profoundly alarming and provocative statement” made by President Joe Biden on Friday in relation to Israel’s deliberations on responding to an Iranian missile attack this month.
Questioned during a press encounter in Germany if he was aware of how and when Israel would conduct its operation, Biden told reporters, “Yes and yes.” Asked if he would reveal the details, he replied, “No and no.”
Iravani argued in his letter that in disclosing “that he possesses knowledge of how and when Israel intends to launch an attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Biden indicated “the United States’ tacit approval and explicit support for Israel’s unlawful military aggression against Iran,” constituting a “dangerous provocation and blatant violation of international law.”
He warned that U.S. involvement in the operation, including through providing “technical expertise and advanced weaponry, including sophisticated air defense systems,” would only “further instigate and embolden Israel to conduct aggressive attacks against Iran [and] would make the U.S. government ‘complicit’ in any Israeli aggression against Iran and its consequences” at a time when Israel stood accused by Iran of “ongoing war crimes and genocide” in Gaza and Lebanon.
“Therefore, the United States will bear full responsibility for its role in instigating, inciting and enabling any acts of aggression by Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iravani said, “in flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of international law and the United Nations Charter, including the principle of prohibition of the use of force under Article 2(4) of the Charter, as well as for the catastrophic consequences on regional and international peace and security.”
Markus Schreiber/AP
Iravani called on the U.N. Security Council to condemn Biden’s remarks and to urge the U.S. to exert pressure on Israel to bring an end to the ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon, which he argued “are not only destabilizing the entire region but also pose a grave threat to international peace and security.”
The conflict began on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian Hamas movement launched an unprecedented large-scale surprise attack on Israel, which immediately launched an all-out war against the group in the Gaza Strip. Intensifying clashes also erupted between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Lebanese Hezbollah movement, a close ally of Iran, along the Israel-Lebanon border, across which the Israeli military launched a ground offensive this month.
The conflict has severely escalated tensions between Israel and the broader Iran-aligned Axis of Resistance coalition, which includes Hezbollah as well as powerful non-state actors in Iraq and Yemen.
In response to the killing of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh at the hands of a still-unclaimed operation in Tehran in July and the slaying of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Abbas Nilforushan in airstrikes in Beirut last month, Iran conducted its second and most intensive missile strike against Israel on October 1.
The attack, known as Operation True Promise II, followed a previous barrage of Iranian missiles fired at Israel in April in response to the killing of Iranian military officials at a diplomatic compound in Syria. Shortly afterward, Israel reportedly conducted a strike against an air defense site near nuclear facilities in Iran’s Esfahan province.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly vowed to deliver a significant response to Iran this time around, and experts have predicted a more substantial operation than in April. Iranian officials have repeatedly warned against any further attacks, and plans have also been drawn up in the Islamic Republic for further offensive measures.
The Biden administration has expressed support for Israel to respond and has deployed thousands of additional U.S. troops along with warships and fighter jets to the region in recent weeks. The Pentagon also deployed a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system along with around 100 U.S. personnel to Israel.
With battles still raging in Gaza and Lebanon, tensions were further exacerbated Saturday when a drone attack attributed to Hezbollah targeted Netanyahu’s private residence. The Israeli premier, who was reportedly not home at the time, warned that “the agents of Iran who tried to assassinate me and my wife today made a bitter mistake” in a statement.
Responding to the allegations of Iranian involvement in the attack, the Iranian Mission to the United Nations said, “We have already responded to the Israeli regime, and the action in question has been carried out by Hezbollah in Lebanon,” in a statement shared with Newsweek on Sunday.
This is a developing story and further information will be added as it becomes available.
