Iran’s Letter to the UN on the Soleimani Assassination Anniversary

According to Khabaronline, Amir Saeid Iravani, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, addressed letters to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Abukar Dahir Osman, President of the Security Council, on the anniversary of the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani by the United States.

The letter states: “On the sixth anniversary of the cowardly assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani by the United States of America—who was a senior commander of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a central figure in the fight against terrorist organizations, including ISIS—I wish once again to emphasize the legal consequences and the definite and indisputable responsibility of the United States for committing such a criminal and unlawful act.”

He adds: “As documented in the official correspondence of the Islamic Republic of Iran addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council since 2020—including letters dated 3, 7, and 29 January 2020, as well as correspondence dated 3 January 2022, 3 January 2023, 2 January 2024, and 2 January 2025—Major General Soleimani and his companions were deliberately targeted and assassinated while on an official visit to the Republic of Iraq. This occurred as a result of a deliberate, premeditated, and planned armed attack by the United States of America at Baghdad International Airport, carried out pursuant to the publicly announced order of the then President of the United States on 3 January 2020.”

“This intentional and unlawful act against a senior official of a sovereign state and a Member of the United Nations, who played a key role in combating terrorism in the region, constitutes a grave violation of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, and a serious breach of the international obligations of the United States.”

The Iranian representative further notes: “Moreover, such a crime clearly constitutes an overt and heinous act of aggression and an internationally wrongful act under international law, entailing the full, explicit, and undeniable international responsibility of the United States.”

Iravani continues: “Furthermore, this cowardly terrorist act constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of the right to life and a clear and serious violation of international human rights law, including Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the United States itself is a State Party. Any claim of self-defense, necessity, or imminence—none of which has ever been proven or substantiated—lacks any legal basis; under no circumstances can this blatant terrorist act be justified.”

The senior Iranian diplomat adds: “The assassination of a senior military official of a sovereign state has set an extremely dangerous precedent that fundamentally undermines the prohibition on the use of force and poses a serious threat to international peace and security.”

In the letter, Iravani writes: “Regrettably, the inaction of the international community has only emboldened the United States. In blatant violation of Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations, the United States once again resorted unlawfully to the use of force against the Islamic Republic of Iran in June 2025, through direct participation in and support for the Israeli regime’s war of aggression against Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“These unlawful actions included attacks against civilians, civilian infrastructure, and peaceful nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, resulting in the killing of more than 1,100 innocent people. This war of aggression further confirms a persistent pattern of disregard for international law and demonstrates that the conduct of the United States itself constitutes a real and ongoing threat to regional and international peace and security.”

According to him, normalizing or tolerating such criminal acts would severely undermine the fundamental foundations of the international legal order upon which the United Nations is built.

Iravani adds: “Within the framework of its rights under international law, the Islamic Republic of Iran has long initiated and continues to pursue the necessary measures and actions through all available legal, political, and judicial channels at the national and international levels to ensure the full accountability of all perpetrators, planners, and accomplices of these heinous, unlawful, and terrorist acts of aggression.”

He concludes: “I would be grateful if the present letter could be registered and circulated as an official document of the Security Council.”