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01:43 GMT
NEW YORK, June 23 (KUNA) -- Iran's Representative to the United Nations Amir-Saeid Iravani vowed that his country would respond "proportionately to the US air attacks on its nuclear sites, accusing the US of being a stooge of the Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking to an emergency meeting by the UN Security Council on Sunday, he said, "The internationally wanted war criminal Netanyahu succeeded in hijacking US foreign policy, dragging the United States into yet another costly, baseless war."
The timing, nature and scale of Iran's proportionate response "will be decided by its armed forces," he said, adding that throughout history the "resilient" Iranian nation has withstood more vicious enemies.
It is "profoundly heartbreaking" that one of the founders of the UN, with over 5,000 years of culture and civilization, and a responsible party to the UN Charter and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has been under armed attack by an "illegitimate regime," Iravani said.
The United States, a permanent Council member, depository of the NPT, and the only State that has ever used nuclear weapons - "murdering millions in two cities" - has now once again retorted to illegal force, he said.
"While the representative of the United States makes baseless accusations against Iran, the international community is well aware of Washington, D.C.'s dark record of military interventions, illegal use of force against sovereign States, and sponsorship of terrorism in the Middle East and across the world.
"The facts speak for themselves," he added.
"All allegations against Iran are unfounded and politically motivated," he said, noting that Iran was preparing for the next round of diplomatic engagement with the United States on June 15, only for Israel to strike two days before those talks could take place.
From the perspective of Western countries, Iran must return to the negotiating table.
"But as Iran's Foreign Minister mentioned, how can Iran return to something it never left," he wondered.
Instead of granting parties the legitimate right to peaceful nuclear energy, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has been exploited as a pretext for aggression and unlawful action that jeopardize the interests of Iran.
For decades, Israel - "an outlaw nuclear armed regime that refused to join the NPT", promoted the false narrative that Iran is on the cusp of acquiring a nuclear weapon, without "one shred of evidence."
"The Security Council must urgently invoke Chapter VII of the UN Charter to unequivocally condemn the aggression and heinous acts committed against Iran," the Iranian delegate urged.
Iravani called for effective enforcement measures to hold the United States and the Israeli regime fully accountable.
"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 added. (end)
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