TEHRAN, June 26. /TASS/. Washington’s claims that US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities are covered by the inherent right to self-defense embodied in the United Nations (UN) Charter are groundless and set a dangerous precedent, said Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's permanent representative to the UN.
"The unlawful use of force against Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities that have remained under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the peaceful nature of which has been repeatedly confirmed can under no circumstances be regarded as ‘the right to self-defense’ laid down in Article 51 of the UN Charter," the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
"This arbitrary and self-serving way of interpreting Article 51 runs counter to the UN Charter, international law, and the UN International Court of Justice's legal practice. Normalizing such illegal assertions would mean violating one of the UN Charter's fundamental principles prohibiting the use of force," the Iranian diplomat stressed.
On June 24, US Charge d'Affaires to the UN Dorothy Shea stated that the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities were allegedly carried out "in accordance with the inherent right to collective self-defense, consistent with the UN Charter."
In the early morning hours of June 13, Israel launched a military operation against Iran. Less than 24 hours later, Iran retaliated. Nine days later, on the morning of June 22, US jets attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities, entering the conflict. The following evening, Tehran launched a missile strike on Al Udeid, the largest US military airbase in the region, located in Qatar.
US President Donald Trump later announced that Israel and Iran had agreed to a complete ceasefire that took effect on June 24.