Iran has written a letter to the U.N. Security Council complaining about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “threat of using nuclear weapons against Iran” during his Sept. 22 address at the U.N. General Assembly.
“The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons constitutes a clear violation of international law and the U.N. Charter, especially from Israel, and emphasizes the serious threat posed to security and international peace,” wrote Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeed Irvani.
“In accordance with international law, we will respond decisively to all threats and illegal acts originating from the Israeli regime,” Irvani warned. “We will not hesitate to exercise these rights to protect our security, our national interests—and our people.”
During his UNGA address, Netanyahu said, “Iran must face a credible nuclear threat. As long as I am prime minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”
A senior adviser to the prime minister told JNS that the original text of the speech called for “a credible military threat” against Iran’s nuclear program.
“It was misread as a credible nuclear threat,” the adviser told JNS. “The prime minister stands by the original text of the speech.”
Netanyahu has been waging a public campaign to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions for decades, and was a vocal critic of the 2015 nuclear accord.
During his U.N. address, Netanyahu said that the “tyrants of Tehran” have been nothing but a curse since he last addressed the UNGA in 2018. However, he added, “The common threat of Iran has brought Israel and many Arab states closer than ever before, in a friendship that I have not seen in my lifetime.”
On Tuesday, Israel Atomic Energy Commission director general Moshe Edri told attendees at the annual conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna that “Iran continues to develop, test and deploy long-range ballistic missiles in direct violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
“Iran, equipped with nuclear weapons and delivery systems is not an option that Israel, or the world, can or should tolerate,” he said.
On Oct. 18, provisions of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 regarding Iran’s ballistic-missile activities are set to expire, warned Edri, which he said would allow the Islamic Republic to continue to advance its ballistic missile program “without any formal limitations.”
“There is no doubt that Iran conducted a military nuclear program aimed to produce several nuclear-weapon devices. Iran continues to advance this program by gaining relevant technology and knowledge, along with fissile material in alarming amounts,” he said.
“This situation is dangerous and troubling,” he cautioned.
