The Foreign Ministry has vowed that Iran will use all means at its disposal to exercise its inherent right of self-defense in the face of the United States’ ongoing violations against the country.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the ministry said Iran’s Armed Forces would continue their defensive operations “with full force,” while reaffirming the Islamic Republic’s determination to resist ongoing US aggression against the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The ministry expressed its “profound admiration for and appreciation” of the sacrifices and efforts made by the Armed Forces and paid tribute to those martyred in the defense of the nation’s independence and territorial integrity.
The United States has perpetrated numerous violations against Iranian territory since April 7, when US President Donald Trump announced a unilateral ceasefire in the latest bout of unprovoked American-Israeli aggression targeting the Islamic Republic.
The violations continued even after Washington and Tehran signed a Pakistan-mediated memorandum of understanding in June, whose first clause clearly mandated cessation of aggression on all fronts.
The US has also been trying to help vessels evade the maritime route designated by the Islamic Republic for safe and legal passage through the Strait of Hormuz by seeking to escort trespassing vessels through an illegal passageway.
Iran’s Armed Forces have staged uncompromising retaliation in the face of each instance of violation, including those taking place in support of illegal vessel movement in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Foreign Ministry likewise noted how the US had failed to honor its commitments under the memorandum.
It cited those breaches as well as Washington’s maintaining a naval blockade against Iranian ports and commercial shipping, intensifying economic pressure, and issuing unlawful threats against the nation as other instances of American hostility towards the Islamic Republic.
The acts of aggression had featured attacks on civilian targets, civilian infrastructure, and Iranian citizens inside and outside Iran, the statement reminded, describing such atrocities as a violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter.
The blockade, it added, constitutes an act of aggression under the United Nations Definition of Aggression, the statement read, citing UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 of December 14, 1974.
The ministry pointed to statements by the US president concerning the termination of the MoU, the cancellation of authorization for Iranian oil sales, and the restoration of the naval blockade.
According to the statement, these developments constituted “clear and incontrovertible indications” that the US administration had already planned to violate the understanding, challenge Iran’s sovereign rights in the Strait of Hormuz, and escalate tensions.
‘Historical hostility’
The statement placed the latest confrontation within a much longer history of US hostility towards Iran.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Washington has pursued expansionist and colonial ambitions in the region and has used its so-called goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a “nuclear weapon,” an allegation the Islamic Republic has invariably rejected, countering an “imminent Iranian threat,” and “preemptive action in defense of Israel” as justifications for military aggression targeting the Iranian soil.
The ministry rejected those explanations, arguing instead that the underlying cause of such aggression was Iran’s insistence on independence and national sovereignty and its resistance to the US’s demands and pressure.
Criticism of UN Security Council’s response
The Foreign Ministry argued that these circumstances required the UN Security Council to intervene to halt the aggression and hold those responsible accountable.
However, it criticized the council for failing to take effective action against the aggressors, comparing the situation with its conduct during the Western-backed 1980-88 war waged by Iraq’s former dictator Saddam Hussein against Iran.
The ministry also criticized the UN secretary-general, saying that, apart from issuing several “vague and equivocal statements,” he had taken no meaningful action.
Source: Iranian media (edited by Al-Manar)