- US has justified Iranian strikes as self-defence and to aid Israel against Iran's nuclear threat
- Iran condemned US strikes as illegal aggression and vowed a proportionate response
- The US struck three Iranian nuclear facilities - Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan
The US and Iran clashed at the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday after the American warplanes and submarines attacked three main Iranian nuclear sites.
Speaking at a briefing a day after US President Donald Trump announced that the American forces struck nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan, the acting US ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Camille Shea, said they aimed to "dismantle" Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and stop the nuclear threat posed by the "world's foremost state sponsor of terror".
"This operation sought to eliminate a longstanding but rapidly escalating source of global insecurity, and to aid our ally Israel in our inherent right of collective self-defence consistent with the UN Charter," she said.
She said that Iran has "long obfuscated" its nuclear weapons program and "stonewalled good-faith efforts" in recent negotiations.
Photo Credit: AFP
Ms Shea said that for 40 years, the Iranian government has called for "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" and posed a "constant menace" to the peace and security of its neighbours, the US, and the entire world.
"Iran has attacked Israel with hundreds of ballistic missiles and through terrorist proxies. For decades, Iran has been responsible for misery and countless deaths across the Middle East. Iran's government and its proxies have also killed numerous Americans, including American service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. In recent weeks, Iranian officials have intensified their hostile bluster and rhetoric," she added.
She said the Iranian regime cannot have a nuclear weapon, and warned that Iran "should not escalate".
"As President (Donald) Trump said, any Iranian attack - direct or indirect - against Americans or American bases will be met with devastating retaliation," she said.
Iran Slams US, Israel After Nuclear Sites Bombed
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's representative to the UN, said the US strikes were "a blatant crime" and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of drawing Mr Trump into the conflict, which began when the Israeli military attacked Iran's nuclear sites and scientists on June 13.
Mr Iravani said that the US "decided to destroy diplomacy," and that the Iranian armed forces will decide the "timing, nature and scale" of a "proportionate response."
"The internationally wanted war criminal Netanyahu succeeded in hijacking US foreign policy, dragging the United States into yet another costly, baseless war," the Iranian delegate said.
"Today, another stain was recorded in the political history of the United States," he said, referring to the US strikes.
He said that it is "profoundly heartbreaking" that one of the founders of the UN, with over 5,000 years of culture and civilisation, and a "responsible party" to the UN Charter and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has been under armed attack by an "illegitimate regime".
He said the US, a permanent Security Council member, depository of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and the only State that has ever used nuclear weapons - "murdering millions in two cities" - has now once again resorted to illegal force.
Mr Iravani said that Israel, "an outlaw nuclear armed regime that refused to join the NPT", has for decades promoted the "false narrative" that Iran is on the cusp of acquiring a nuclear weapon, without a "shred of evidence".
"This is a historic test for this Council, for the United Nations as a whole. If this Council fails to act and condemn this blatant aggression, the stain of complicity will forever remain on its conscience, as it does with Gaza," he said.
Israel Defends Attacks On Iranian Nuclear Sites
Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, defended the US strikes and said that "history changed" last night.
"The United States, the leader of the free world, removed the greatest existential threat facing the free world. Just like our operation Rising Lion, this was not a war of choice. This action was a necessity. It was a righteous act for the United States, for Israel, for the Middle East, and for the world," he told the Security Council.
"Let the record show that when the world stood at the edge of a nuclear disaster, America stepped forward. When time ran out, America showed courage. And when the moment came to confront the forces of extinction, America led. Now, it is time for the rest of the world to guarantee that the threat of a nuclear Iran never returns," he added.
He also said that Tehran used the negotiating table as "camouflage, a delay tactic, a way to buy time" while building missiles and enriching uranium.
"Make no mistake, the cost of inaction would have been catastrophic. A nuclear Iran would have been a death sentence just as much for you as it would have for us," he said.
Mr Danon also charged that Iran's "reach" extends far beyond Israel's borders. "It arms militias in Iraq. It commands terror in Lebanon. It funds the Houthis in Yemen. It plots murder in Europe. And it threatens every capital in the West with its growing arsenal of ballistic missiles."
UN Chief On US Bombings
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the US marks a "perilous turn" in a region that "cannot endure another cycle of destruction".
"We must act immediately and decisively to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear program. We need a credible, comprehensive and verifiable solution, one that restores trust," he said.
"We face a stark choice amid the escalation in the Middle East. One way leads to wider war, deeper suffering and serious damage to the international order. The other leads to de-escalation, diplomacy & dialogue. We know which way is right," he said.
UN Nuclear Watchdog Confirms US Strikes
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said the "dramatic" events in Iran have become even more serious with US bombings and the potential widening of the conflict.
He said that entrances to tunnels used to store part of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile at the Esfahan nuclear complex were hit in US military strikes.
In a statement to the UN Security Council, Mr Grossi also said that craters were visible at the Fordow site, Iran's main location for enriching uranium to 60%.
He also said the Fuel Enrichment Plant at the Natanz enrichment site was "hit again".
"Any special measures by Iran to protect its nuclear materials and equipment can be done in accordance with Iran's safeguards obligations and the agency. This is possible," Mr Grossi said.
