Iran UN envoy says US must end blockade if it seeks diplomacy

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Gholamhossein Darzi, addressed a session of the UN Security Council late on Friday under the agenda item "The Situation in the Middle East," stating that Washington must immediately and unconditionally end its aggression if it is genuinely committed to a diplomatic solution.

Darzi said Iran has never closed the doors to diplomacy, noting that over the past two years Tehran has repeatedly engaged in negotiations in good faith. He said the United States, by contrast, has consistently chosen aggression and threats over diplomacy, an approach he said continues to the present day. The envoy said these repeated experiences have fostered deep mistrust and raised serious doubts about the prospect of resuming negotiations in the absence of credible guarantees against a recurrence of what he described as unlawful actions.

Setting out Iran's conditions, Darzi said the path forward is clear: Washington must immediately and unconditionally cease its aggression, provide credible guarantees of non-repetition, respect Iran's sovereign rights, lift the naval blockade and all other unilateral coercive measures, and demonstrate its commitment to diplomacy through concrete action. He stated explicitly that any resumption of an aggressive war by the United States and the Israeli regime would be met with an immediate and decisive response, without hesitation, targeting the source of the aggression wherever it may be. He added that Iran would, as in the past, exercise its inherent right to legitimate self-defense in accordance with international law.

Addressing the Council, Darzi said Iran will continue to take all necessary and appropriate measures to defend its people, security, vital interests, sovereignty and territorial integrity, to maintain a credible and enduring deterrence, and to ensure that no further acts of aggression are repeated. He urged the Security Council to direct its demands toward the aggressor rather than the victim, calling on it to press the United States to cease all unlawful actions and threats, abide by its obligations under the UN Charter and fully respect international law.

The remarks came during a Security Council session on the Middle East, in the context of the US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and the wider confrontation between Washington and Tehran. According to Mehr News, Darzi's address focused on the conditions Iran says are required before any return to negotiations.