In a letter to UN Secretary General António Guterres and President of the UN Security Council Jamal Fares Alrowaiei on April 21, Saeed Iravani warned that Washington’s actions against the vessel “Touska” amount to piracy in nature and pose a serious threat to regional and international peace and security, while urging the United Nations to take a firm stance and ensure accountability.
What follows is the text of the letter:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Excellencies,
Upon instructions from my Government, and with reference to my letter dated 13 April 2026 (S/2026/323), I write to bring to your immediate and urgent attention, and to that of the members of the Security Council, the continuing internationally wrongful acts perpetrated by the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the deliberate targeting of Iranian commercial vessels.
On 19 April 2026, in the vicinity of the coasts of Iran in the Sea of Oman, U.S. military forces carried out a hostile and unlawful attack against the Iranian commercial vessel "Touska", through acts of coercion, intimidation, and the reckless endangerment of the vessel's crew and their families. This attack against a civilian vessel constitutes a grave and manifest violation of the fundamental principles of international law, including the peremptory norm prohibiting aggression. The deliberate intimidation and psychological terror inflicted upon the crew and their families further compound the egregious nature of this act. Such conduct bears the hallmarks of piracy in nature and amounts to a dangerous escalation that severely endangers the safety and security of vital shipping lanes.
Moreover, this unlawful act constitutes a clear and material breach of the ceasefire of 8 April 2026 and qualifies as an act of aggression, as defined by Article 3(c) of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 (1974). It poses a serious threat to regional and international peace and security and exacerbates the already volatile situation.
The Islamic Republic of Iran unequivocally rejects and condemns this unlawful act of the U.S. in the strongest possible terms and calls upon the United Nations, in particular the Security Council and the Secretary General, to take an immediate, firm, and principled position by unequivocally condemning this act of aggression, ensuring full accountability for those responsible, and demanding the U.S. to immediate and unconditional release of the vessel, its crew and their families, and all those affected by this incident.
I should be grateful if you would have the present letter circulated as an official document of the Security Council.
Please accept, Excellencies, the assurances of my highest consideration.