In a statement released on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said the joint military aggression by the Zionist regime and the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which began on February 28 with the martyrdom of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and a number of senior Iranian officials and simultaneous attacks on military and civilian infrastructure—including schools, hospitals, sports facilities, residential homes, and public service centers—and which is still continuing, constitutes a clear violation of Iran’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty.

Responding to this brutal military aggression is Iran’s inherent right to self-defense, which is also reflected in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, the statement said, adding that the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are using all their capabilities to confront this criminal aggression.

The exercise of Iran’s inherent right of legitimate self-defense will continue until the aggression is halted or the United Nations Security Council fulfills its duty under Article 39 of the UN Charter by identifying the aggressors and determining the responsibilities arising from their act of aggression, it added.

As explained in various communications to the UN Security Council, the statement added, based on the fundamental principle of international law known as the “prohibition of causing harm to others from one’s territory,” states are prohibited from allowing their territory to be used directly or indirectly to cause damage or harm to other states.

In this regard, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314, which was adopted unanimously and reflects customary rules of international law regarding the definition of aggression and its examples, considers in paragraph (f) of Article 3 that one instance of aggression is the “action of a state in allowing its territory, which it has placed at the disposal of another state, to be used by that other state for perpetrating an act of aggression against a third state,” the ministry added.

Furthermore, as a fundamental principle of international law, states must strongly prevent military aggression by forces stationed on their territory against other countries and must not facilitate or support it, the statement said.

It is evident that in the event of a violation of the aforementioned fundamental obligations, states from whose territory military aggression has been carried out against a third state bear international legal responsibilities, including with regard to compensation for direct and indirect damages inflicted, it warned.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, in exercising its inherent right to defend the existence of Iran and in light of the clear failure of the United Nations Security Council to fulfill its duties and responsibilities under the UN Charter, has undertaken necessary and proportionate defensive operations against the bases and facilities of the aggressors in the region, the statement said, noting that such action is legitimate from the perspective of international law and had been continuously warned about in advance at various levels.

No factor can undermine Iran’s inherent right to defend itself against the military aggression of the United States and the Zionist regime, it added. Iran’s defensive operations target facilities and capabilities that are the source and origin of aggressive actions against the Iranian nation or that serve such objectives.

Countries in the region have undoubtedly realized by now that US bases on their soil have not contributed to regional security, but are instead used solely to support the Zionist child-killers and American aggressors, the ministry added.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been committed to preserving and continuing friendly relations with regional countries on the basis of mutual respect, the principle of good neighborliness, and respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Foreign Ministry said, emphasizing that Iran’s defensive operations against US military bases and facilities in the region should in no way be interpreted as hostility or enmity toward regional countries.