Iran says the USA will probably be “solely and totally accountable for the harmful penalties” of its assaults on Iranian nuclear websites, including that US President Donald Trump has “betrayed” American voters by submitting to Israel’s needs.
Throughout an handle to a gathering of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on Sunday, Iran’s International Minister Abbas Araghchi stated the US crossed “a really huge purple line” by attacking Iran’s three nuclear amenities.
Talking simply hours after Trump introduced that US warplanes had “obliterated” the nuclear websites, Araghchi condemned the strikes and known as on the United Nations Safety Council to behave.
“It’s an outrageous, grave and unprecedented violation of the basic ideas of the Constitution of the United Nations and worldwide regulation,” he stated, including that the “warmongering and lawless” US administration will probably be “solely and totally accountable for the harmful penalties and far-reaching implications of its act of aggression”.
“The US army assault on the territorial integrity and nationwide sovereignty of a UN member state carried out in collusion with the genocidal Israeli regime has as soon as once more revealed the extent of the USA’ hostility in the direction of the peace-seeking folks of Iran. We are going to by no means compromise on their independence and sovereignty,” he stated.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to defend Iran’s territory, sovereignty, and folks by all means mandatory in opposition to not simply US army aggression, but in addition the reckless and illegal actions of the Israeli regime.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who escalated the Center East battle by launching strikes on Iran on June 13, praised Trump’s “daring resolution” to hit Iran’s nuclear websites, and stated Israel and the US acted in “full coordination”.
After the strikes, Trump stated Iran “should now agree to finish this warfare” and that in no way may Iran possess a nuclear weapon.
However Araghchi stated any demand to return to negotiations on the nation’s nuclear programme was “irrelevant”. The US and Iran have been engaged in nuclear talks earlier than Israel launched a shock strike on Iran – publicly backed by the US – earlier this month.
Iran denies its uranium enrichment programme is for something apart from civilian functions, rejecting Israeli allegations that it’s secretly creating nuclear weapons. Netanyahu has pledged to proceed the assaults for “as many days because it takes” to cease Iran from creating a “nuclear risk”.
Reporters take images of a displayed graphic as US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks throughout a information convention on the Pentagon in Washington, DC, the USA, June 22, 2025 (Alex Brandon/AP)
“The world should not neglect that it was the USA which – within the midst of a course of to forge a diplomatic final result – betrayed diplomacy by supporting the genocidal Israeli regime’s launch of an unlawful warfare of aggression on the Iranian nation,” Araghchi stated.
“So we have been in diplomacy, however we have been attacked. They gave a inexperienced mild to Israelis, if not instructed them, to assault Iran’s nuclear amenities. They’ve proved that they aren’t males of diplomacy, they usually solely perceive the language of risk and drive.”
US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday stated he nonetheless hopes Iran will return to the negotiating desk.
“I can solely affirm that there are each private and non-private messages being delivered to the Iranians in a number of channels, giving them each alternative to return to the desk,” he informed reporters.
Trump additionally ‘betrayed’ US voters
Araghchi additionally accused Trump of betraying not solely Iran, however his personal supporters as effectively. He stated Trump was elected on a platform of placing an finish to “America’s pricey involvement in ‘perpetually wars’”.
“He has betrayed not solely Iran by abusing our dedication to diplomacy, but in addition deceived his personal voters by submitting to the needs of a needed warfare legal who has grown accustomed to exploiting the lives and wealth of Americans to additional the Israeli regime’s aims,” stated Araghchi, referring to Netanyahu.
Iran says greater than 400 folks have been killed and a minimum of 3,056 others wounded since Israel launched its assaults on June 13. In Israel, a minimum of 24 folks have been killed in Iranian strikes.
Araghchi stated he would head to Moscow afterward Sunday and maintain “severe consultations” with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday morning within the wake of the unprecedented US strikes.
“Russia is a good friend of Iran and we take pleasure in a strategic partnership,” he stated in Istanbul. “We at all times seek the advice of with one another and coordinate our positions.”
In the meantime, Iran’s delegation to the UN additionally formally known as for an emergency assembly of the UN Safety Council on Sunday to debate the US strikes. In a letter submitted to the council carried by Fars Information Company, the Iranian delegation urged “fast motion and the adoption of mandatory measures below the framework of the United Nations Constitution”.
“Silence within the face of such blatant aggression will plunge the world into an unprecedented degree of hazard and chaos,” Araghchi stated in Istanbul. “Humanity has come too far as a species to permit a lawless bully to take us again to the regulation of the jungle.”
