ISTANBUL

Iran condemned the UN Security Council on Tuesday for what it called its persistent failure to respond to “blatant acts of aggression” against the sovereignty of independent states.

The UN Security Council “has either been unable or unwilling to respond appropriately and resolutely to blatant acts of aggression against the national sovereignty of certain states,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in a speech to the council.

He cited “military occupations, genocide, economic blockades, and the sponsorship of state terrorism” as examples of the council’s failure.

On June 13, Israel launched a 12-day offensive on Iran, targeting military, nuclear, and civilian sites, as well as senior military commanders and leading scientists.

Tehran retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israeli military and intelligence facilities. The US also bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, and later announced a ceasefire on June 24.

Gharibabadi said the Israeli assault left 1,100 people dead, including 132 women, 45 children, and 26 medical personnel.

While Iran did not seek war, he said, “We shall defend our people and homeland with the ferocity of a lion. The aggressors must know that their conspiracies shall fail, and it is Iran that shall endure.”

Reaffirming Iran's long-held position on its nuclear program, the deputy foreign minister reiterated that it “has always been exclusively peaceful in nature” and remains under the “most rigorous oversight of the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

He also emphasized Iran's historical restraint, saying that Tehran “has not, over the course of recent centuries, initiated armed aggression against any state,” and stressed that true peace can only be achieved “not through bombs and coercion,” but “through respect for rights, justice, and diplomacy.”

“The normalization of aggression must be unequivocally rejected,” he said, urging the international community to stand against “the erosion of lawful order in favor of brute force.”