In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President of the Security Council Abukar Dahir Osman on January 2, Saeed Iravani strongly rejected recent remarks by the US president threatening the use of force against Iran, describing them as reckless, interventionist, and in clear violation of the UN Charter and international law.

Emphasizing that Iran will respond decisively and proportionately to any act of aggression or foreign interference, the envoy underscored that any ensuing escalation would be entirely the responsibility of the United States.

What follows is the full text of his letter:

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Excellencies,

Upon instructions from my Government, and further to my letter dated 30 December 2025, I wish to draw the attention of Your Excellency and the members of the Security Council to the statement made today, 2 January 2026, by the President of the United States of America, which constitutes yet another clear instance of intervention in the internal affairs of a Member State of the United Nations, in violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations. In a statement amounting to the incitement of violence, unrest, and terrorist acts within Iran, the President of the United States openly threatened the Islamic Republic of Iran with the use of force and intervention, declaring that "We are locked and loaded and ready to go."

It is of particular concern that this reckless statement does not stand in isolation. Only days earlier, the President of the United States publicly threatened the Islamic Republic of Iran with the use of force, including renewed military attacks against Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities and its defensive capabilities. These repeated and deliberate statements demonstrate a consistent pattern of unlawful conduct by the United States and constitute a clear, explicit, and unlawful threat of the use of force against a sovereign State, as well as interference in its internal affairs. Such threats, irrespective of political pretexts or rhetorical framing, are strictly prohibited under international law. Any attempt to incite, encourage, or legitimize internal unrest as a pretext for external pressure or military intervention constitutes a grave violation of Iran's sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity, in flagrant breach of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, including Articles 2 (1), 2 (4), and 2 (7) thereof, as well as General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV) of 1970. Moreover, under international law, the encouragement, support, or facilitation of subversive or violent activities within another State constitutes an internationally wrongful act, directly engaging the responsibility of the intervening State.

Ironically, these so-called claims of "supporting the Iranian people" emanate from officials of a State with a long and well-documented record of military interventions, regime-change operations, and unlawful uses of force across the globe, carried out in gross violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and resulting in widespread civilian casualties, the collapse of States, humanitarian catastrophes, and the emergence and empowerment of extremist and terrorist groups. Furthermore, the Iranian people have, over decades, experienced the true consequences of the United States' professed concern for their welfare. The historical record of the United States demonstrates a consistent pattern of intervention and coercion pursued under the pretext of "supporting the Iranian people."

This record includes the orchestration of the 1953 coup d'état against the democratically elected Government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, as well as tens of instances since 1979, including the extensive political, military, and intelligence support provided to the Saddam regime in Iraq during its eight-year imposed war of aggression against Iran; the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988 over the Persian Gulf, resulting in the martyrdom of 290 innocent civilians; the cowardly assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani, a top commander of the Iranian Army and a central figure in the fight against terrorist organizations; the continued complicity with the Israeli regime in the assassination of Iranian military officials and scientists, acts of sabotage, and attacks against Iranian civilians and civilian infrastructure, including the war of aggression carried out in June 2025; and, over decades, the imposition of unilateral coercive measures and unilateral sanctions, resulting in grave and systematic violations of the fundamental human rights of the Iranian people, including the inherent right to life and development.

Against this backdrop, the Islamic Republic of Iran once again recalls the responsibility of the Secretary-General and the Security Council, and in particular its responsible members, under the Charter of the United Nations, to unequivocally and strongly condemn these reckless and provocative statements against Iran by the President of the United States as a serious violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations; to demand that the United States immediately comply with its obligations under the Charter and international law, cease all threats or uses of force, and discharge its responsibilities as a permanent member of the Security Council in a manner consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

The Islamic Republic of Iran unequivocally rejects and strongly condemns these reckless, interventionist, and inflammatory statements, and reaffirms its inherent right to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security, and to protect its people against any foreign interference. Iran will exercise its rights decisively and proportionately. The United States of America bears full responsibility for any consequences arising from these unlawful threats and any ensuing escalation.

I should be grateful if you would have the present letter circulated as an official document of the Security Council.

Please accept, Excellencies, the assurances of my highest consideration.