In a letter addressed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and members of the UN Security Council on March 22, Araqchi condemned recent military attacks by the United States and the Israeli regime on Iran's safeguarded nuclear facilities.

What follows is the full text of his letter:

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Excellency,

I am writing regarding the recent military attacks by the armed forces of the United States of America and the Israeli regime against the peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities and installations of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which amount to grave breach of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the IAEA Statute, calling for urgent decisive action on the part of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency. In this regard, I should raise the following:

1. Since their second round of act of aggression in less than nine months commenced on 28 February 2026, the United States and the Israeli regime, in continuation of their war crimes, have conducted a series of military attacks against two nuclear sites in Iran: on the afternoon of 1 March 2026, they conducted military attacks twice on the Natanz nuclear facility; on the evening of 17 March 2026, another military attack was directed against a structure just 350 meters away from the active Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant; and on the morning of 21 March 2026, several points in Natanz nuclear facility were bombed.

2. The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stated on numerous occasions, including in his statement before the United Nations Security Council on 13 June 2025 (S/PV.9936), that “nuclear facilities must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as such actions could harm both people and the environment. These attacks have serious implications for nuclear security, nuclear safety and safeguards, as well as for regional and international peace and security." In another statement before the United Nations Security Council on 20 June 2025(S/PV.9939), while explaining that the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is an operating nuclear power plant and hosts thousands of kilograms of nuclear material, he stated that, the consequences of an attack thereon could be "most serious", adding that, "I want to make it absolutely and completely clear: in the event of an attack on the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, a direct hit could result in a very high release of radioactivity to the environment. Similarly, a hit that disabled the only two lines supplying electrical power to the plant could cause its reactor's core to melt, which could result in a high release of radioactivity into the environment".

3. As a clear manifestation of the unlawful use of force, in defiance of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, these attacks constitute a blatant violation of the well-established principle of the prohibition of aggression, which, according to the International Court of Justice as well as the International Law Commission, is a "peremptory norm" of general international law - norms accepted and recognized by the international community of States as a whole from which no derogation is permitted.

4. As the UN General Assembly, in its resolution 3314 on the "definition of aggression" of 14 December 1974, has stipulated "a war of aggression is a crime against international peace" and "gives rise to international responsibility". Similarly, under international law, war crimes and the crime of aggression as "the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole," entail the "international responsibility" of the aggressors, and the "individual criminal responsibility" of persons who effectively exercise control over or direct the political or military action of an aggressor State, as well those who commit, individually or jointly with other persons, order, solicit or induce the commission of an act of aggression or war crimes.

5. Moreover, as the International Law Commission has articulated in Article 1 of the Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, "every internationally wrongful act of a State entails the international responsibility of that State," and in its Articles 30, 31 and 36 that the State responsible for such internationally wrongful act is under an obligation "to cease that act," "to offer appropriate assurances and guarantees of non-repetition," and "to make full reparation for the injury caused by the internationally wrongful act" and "to compensate for the damage caused". Given that the international responsibility of the United States and the Israeli regime stems from serious breaches by them of their obligation arising under peremptory norms of general international law, particularly "the prohibition of aggression," under Article 41 of the aforesaid Draft Articles, all States are under obligation, inter alia, to "cooperate to bring to an end through lawful means" any such serious breaches.

6. Moreover, under the rules of international humanitarian law, many of which, according to the International Court of Justice, constitute intransgressible principles of international customary law, the works and installations containing dangerous forces, including nuclear electrical generating stations, enjoy "special protection," and accordingly, any armed attacks thereon are prohibited and constitute flagrant violations of a number of principles and norms of international humanitarian law, including Article 56 of the 1977 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts.

7. Bearing in mind the severe consequences of the release of radioactivity to the environment, such attacks on nuclear installations violate international humanitarian law as well as international environmental law. Article 35 of the aforesaid Protocol prohibits, as a basic rule, employing any methods or means of warfare which may "cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment," and Article 55 defines the protection of "the natural environment against widespread, long-term and severe damage" as one of the obligations of the parties to armed conflicts.

8. Given the "inalienable right" of States "to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination", which is also reaffirmed under Article IV of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), recalling the key objective of the IAEA in accelerating and enlarging the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world, enshrined in Article II of its Statute, as well as the fundamental and yet increasing and widespread role of nuclear energy in development of States in economic, scientific, technological, medical, agricultural and other fields, any military attack or threat of attack on nuclear facilities and installations devoted to peaceful purposes, seriously violates the very objects and purposes of the NPT and the IAEA Statute, gravely challenges their relevance, integrity and credibility, seriously undermines the global non-proliferation norms, and causes further uncertainty and impediments in the realization of the inherent right to development.

9. Besides, recalling the important role of the safeguards system, established under Article III of the NPT and the Safeguards Agreements concluded between the NPT States Parties with the IAEA for the verification of the fulfillment of their obligations assumed under that Treaty, any military attack or threat of attack on safeguarded peaceful nuclear facilities and installations, fundamentally undermines the relevance, effectiveness and credibility of the overall global non- proliferation architecture, including in particular the IAEA safeguards system, creates a sense of uncertainty and chaos with respect to global non-proliferation norms, further eroding trust and confidence in such norms, and ultimately deteriorates the very foundations of international peace and security.

10. Further recalling that the UN Security Council, in its unanimously adopted resolution 487(1981), considered the air attack by the Israeli regime on Iraqi nuclear installations on 7 June 1981 a "clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international conduct," constituting "a serious threat to the entire IAEA safeguards regime", strongly condemned such military attacks, and called upon the Israeli regime to "refrain in the future from any such acts or threats thereof," the recent unlawful military attacks of the Israeli regime alongside the US against the safeguarded peaceful nuclear facilities and installations of the Islamic Republic of Iran is also a flagrant violation of the obligations of that regime under the aforesaid resolution of the Council. The United Nations General Assembly, on numerous occasions including in its resolutions A/RES/36/27 of 13 November 1981 and A/RES/38/9 of 10 November 1983, has also enumerated such consequences, among others, endangering the "role and activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency and other international instruments in the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and in safeguarding against further proliferation of nuclear weapons" and concluded that any threat or attack on nuclear facilities constitutes “a violation of the Charter of the United Nations".

11. Similarly, the policymaking organs of the IAEA, on numerous occasions, have considered the serious implications of attacks on nuclear facilities and installations devoted to peaceful purposes. In a number of its resolutions, including resolution GC(XXXI)/RES/475 of 25 September 1987, the General Conference of the Agency has referred to "the fact that an armed attack on a nuclear installation could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the State which has been attacked," and in its resolution GC(XXV)/RES/381 of 26 September 1981, has stated that any attack on nuclear installations "constitutes an attack against the Agency and its safeguards regime," causing "considerable damage to the safeguards regime" and seriously jeopardizing "the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes". In its resolution GC(XXIX)/RES/444 of 27 September 1985, the General Conference has affirmed that "all States developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes need assurances against armed attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities," and stated that “any armed attack on and threat against nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law and the Statute of the Agency". Similarly, the Board of Governors of the IAEA, in a number of its resolutions and decisions, including its resolution adopted on 12 June 1981, has expressed grave concern over the far- reaching implications of military attacks on the peaceful nuclear facilities, including “affecting the security and peace", clearly disregarding "the Agency's safeguards regime and the Non- Proliferation Treaty" and inflicting "great harm to the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." Also, in reaction to the 13 June 2025 attacks against the peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities and installations of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 120 Member States of the Non-Aligned Movement, in a communiqué issued on 13 June 2025, categorically and strongly condemned "the deliberate targeting of peaceful nuclear facilities," expressed "serious concerns that such attacks and the resulting damage pose formidable risks of radioactive material release, representing severe threats to civilian populations and the environment," and stressed that this reprehensible attack "constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the fundamental principles of international law, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the prohibition of threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of States, while grossly violating the fundamental rights, in particular the right to life and the right to health".

12. Prior to and following both rounds of acts of aggression in June 2025 and February 2026, the Islamic Republic of Iran formally conveyed its warnings to the Director General of the IAEA through letters at the level of the Foreign Minister, Vice President, and Ambassador and Permanent Representative, explicitly addressing the illegal attacks against Iran's safeguarded nuclear facilities. Regrettably, the continued inaction of the Director General and the IAEA Board of Governors has not only emboldened the aggressors but also irreversibly undermined the credibility, relevance, and authority of the Agency and its safeguards system, which may engage the international responsibility of the Agency.

13. Taking into account the gravity of deliberate targeting of the peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities and installations of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Unites States and Israeli regime, the consequences of which are described by the IAEA Director General as the "most serious," as well as their far-reaching adverse implications on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, rule of law at the international level, including the global norms on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and above all, regional and international peace and security, the United Nations Security Council is under an explicit legal obligation to act promptly and decisively to condemn this aggression, and to compel the aggressors to cease forthwith all their unlawful attacks, and to make full reparation and compensation for the injury and damages they caused including to Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities and installations.

14. Likewise, given the nuclear posture of the Israeli regime as well as its record in waging wars of aggression, attacking peaceful nuclear installations in the region, and its persistent and systematic violation of international law and the principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations, the Security Council must enforce its previous resolutions regarding the regime, and accordingly demand that the Israeli regime must renounce the possession of nuclear weapons, accede without delay to all international legally-binding instruments banning weapons of mass destruction, in particular the NPT, accept the full scope safeguards of the IAEA, place all its nuclear facilities and activities under the verification and monitoring of the Agency, and provide absolute, unconditional and irrevocable formal assurances that never and under no circumstances it will attack any nuclear facility and installation in the region and beyond.

15. In the light of the foregoing, and as a part of their act of aggression, the joint military attacks of the armed forces of the United States of America and the Israeli regime against the peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities and installations of the Islamic Republic of Iran in June 2025 and February-March 2026 constitute serious material breaches of the prohibition of aggression as a peremptory norm of general international law. This critical situation needs a prompt and resolute response from the international community as well as the UN Security Council in line with its responsibility to maintain international peace and security.

I should be grateful if you would have the present letter circulated as an official document of the Security Council and of the General Assembly, under agenda items 84, 95, 99.x, 99.cc, and 102.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.