Iran asks UN to name US, Israel as ‘aggressors’ in 12-day war
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has written a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asking the UN to formally recognise the US and Israel as the “initiators of the act of aggression” in the latest conflict.
The letter also called on the UN to acknowledge the two countries’ “subsequent responsibility including the payment of compensation and reparations”.
The war broke out on June 13 when Israel launched major strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites, leading to days of deadly attacks between the two nations. The US directly joined the fray on June 21, carrying out its own strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran’s military chief questions Israel’s commitment to ceasefire
Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, says Iran has serious “doubts” about Israel’s commitment to the ongoing ceasefire, arguing that Israel has proven it does not respect international norms.
“Since we have complete doubts about the enemy’s [Israel’s] adherence to its commitments, including the ceasefire, we are prepared to give it a strong response if it repeats the aggression,” Mousavi said in a call with Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
‘Growing number of people’ in Iran demanding a nuclear bomb
Iranian affairs analyst Mostafa Khoshcheshm says Iranians are increasingly wanting the government to build a nuclear weapon after the Israeli-US attacks earlier this month.
Anger among Iranians is rising at the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency after it said Iran failed to comply with its obligations under a nuclear pact, and Israel attacked the country a day later.
“I’ve been hearing increasing voices in Tehran from among the public demanding a nuclear bomb from the Islamic Republic,” Khoshcheshm told Al Jazeera.
He noted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s decree that the country will not pursue atomic arms. Khamenei, who has the final say on the matter, banned the development of nuclear weapons in a fatwa, or religious edict, in the early 2000s, saying it is “haram”, or forbidden, in Islam.
“Still, there are a growing number of people demanding the Islamic Republic to make a bomb in order to protect their security,” said Khoshcheshm.
Iran asks Azerbaijan if Israeli drones used its airspace for attacks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, to investigate whether Israeli drones were flown into Iranian territory from Azerbaijan during the recent conflict.
“We have received information that a small number of drones have flown into Iranian territory from the territory of neighbouring countries,” said Mehdi Sobhani, Iran’s ambassador to Armenia.
“Therefore, during a telephone conversation between the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan, our president asked Aliyev to conduct a serious investigation into this matter. We will await the results of this investigation.”
Sobhani said information about the incident was provided by Iranian intelligence, according to the ISNA news agency.
