Iran says it retains right to self-defense under UN Charter if attacked

Iran's top diplomat has stated that, in the absence of any valid legal justification for the use of force, a United States military attack against Iran would constitute an internationally wrongful act for which the United States bears responsibility. In response to any armed attack, Iran continues to exercise its right to legitimate self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, the foreign minister underlined.

The remarks were attributed to Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi in a report carried by Mehr News. The statement frames any potential US military action as lacking a legal basis and places responsibility for such action on Washington.

Earlier, on November 11, Araghchi said that what he described as the delusions and baseless notions of US officials had led to the failure of US policy. In comments cited in the report, he referred to past remarks by former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, saying that eight years ago a figure like Pompeo had said Iranians must follow White House dictates if they wanted to eat. He added that current US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose fellow Cubans he said are victims of the same policy, repeats that rhetoric.

The report also referenced publisher keywords including US Secretary of State, US aggression, and US-Israeli aggression on Iran, reflecting the context in which the foreign minister's comments were made.

According to Mehr News, the foreign minister's position centers on the argument that any use of force against Iran without legal justification would be an internationally wrongful act, and that Iran retains and continues to exercise its right of legitimate self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter in response to armed attack.