In a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President of the UN Security Council Zenon Ngay Mukongo on July 8, Saeed Iravani said that recent disclosures by senior Pentagon officials indicate that artificial intelligence was used to identify and engage targets during the US military campaign against Iran.

He argued that the reported use of AI in military decision-making, combined with the scale of civilian casualties and destruction caused by the attacks, raises serious concerns under international law and warrants urgent action by the United Nations.

What follows is the text of his letter:

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

Excellency,

Upon instructions from my Government, and further to Iran's letters concerning the outrageous acts of aggression committed by the United States and Israeli regime against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and brazen war crimes and crimes against humanity including systematic targeting of State officials, civilians including woman and children and wanton destruction of civilian objects including homes, schools, hospitals and energy infrastructure, I would like to draw your attention to the following:

According to the latest credible media reports, the Pentagon's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, in a sworn statement submitted to a United States District Court, has rendered an egregious admission. In that filing, he underlined the role of XAI's generative artificial intelligence chatbot, "Grok", in firing "more than 2,000 munitions at 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours" in Iran.

While the President of the United States and other US officials, including the Secretary of War, had previously demonstrated their criminal intent to perpetrate war crimes through clear public statements, including to the effect that they had targeted an incapacitated Iranian frigate because it was "more fun!", the explicit declaration that "no quarter" would be given to Iranians, and the chilling acknowledgment of having killed more than 168 innocent children at the Shajareh-Tayyebeh School in Minab during school hours, the Pentagon's latest admission regarding the use of artificial intelligence in targeting decisions provides further compelling evidence of a systematic policy of deliberately deploying unaccountable machines in conducting indiscriminate strikes with catastrophic consequences for civilian populations. Loss of lives of more than 4,800 innocent Iranians including at least 255 children and 257 women, and injury of 34,000 others as well as destruction of 149,528 civilian units including 123,647 residential and 24,450 commercial units, 350 healthcare units, 56 red crescent centers, 12 universities and 857 educational centers, and at least 15 vital civilian infrastructure including airports, civilian aircraft, and fuel depots are some of the results of such reckless and irresponsible use of AI in waging such illegal and criminal war of aggression.

The United States has therefore effectively weaponized an unregulated, commercially developed algorithm to conduct mass, indiscriminate attacks, with devastating consequences for the Iranian people, engaging the international responsibility of the United States as well as the international criminal responsibility of all those involved in the commission of the said war crimes. The Islamic Republic of Iran further views this as a stark warning to the international community, threatening international peace and security.

I should further reiterate that the United States is under an obligation to make full reparation for the injury caused by the said violations against Iran and its citizens, including any damage, material, and moral. This includes an obligation to make restitution and compensate for the damage caused thereby, under established international law. In the meantime, individual criminal responsibility of the President of the United States and any other US officials and individuals involved in grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including for the crime of aggression, directing deliberate attacks against civilians (including women and children), targeting of high-ranking political officials, most notably the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader and members of his family, including his young grandchild aged fourteen months, as well as military officers, nuclear scientists, and university professors outside hostilities, and launching willful attacks against civilian objects, is seriously engaged. This is indeed without prejudice to individual criminal responsibility of all those individuals, including within the Israeli regime, involved in commanding, ordering, committing, or aiding, abetting, and otherwise assisting in the commission of the war crimes, including those referred to above.

Accordingly, while the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its full and unimpeachable right to pursue, through all available legal means for establishment of accountability for the responsible States and individuals and also to secure compensation for the damages sustained, it is highly expected that the Secretary General and the Security Council undertake appropriate measures, in accordance with their responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, to ensure accountability for, and prevention of, the use of AI in committing war crimes.

I would be grateful if the present letter could be circulated as an official document of the Security Council.

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