Iran reserves right to respond to Israeli military adventurism: UN ambassador

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations says the country considers it to be its "legitimate right" to respond to any potential act of military adventurism by the Israeli regime.

Amir Saeid Iravani made the remarks in a letter addressed to the UN secretary-general and president of the world body's Security Council on Tuesday.

The official cited several recent instances of the occupying regime's threatening to take military action against Iran, including against the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities.

During the latest case, the regime's former minister for military affairs Benny Gantz alleged in late December that Tel Aviv "has significantly increased its preparedness in recent years and is preparing for the possibility of an attack on Iran."

Reacting to such remarks, Iravani noted, "While warning against the Israeli regime's military adventurism against Iran in order to pursue its malign policies in the region, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its legitimate right, in accordance with international law and the United Nations Charter, to respond to any threat posed by the Israeli regime and protect its people as well as national security interests at any time it deems appropriate."

The envoy further referred to yet another recent instance of menacing language by Tel Aviv, during which former Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid claimed that no Israeli cabinet "will allow a nuclear Iran. If it is necessary to act, we will act."

Iravani considered the regime's threats to take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities to be "a flagrant violation of international law and the United Nations Charter."

The Israeli regime has invariably opposed Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities.

Over the years, the regime has assassinated at least seven Iranian nuclear scientists and conducted several sabotage operations against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.

Iranian Nuclear accidents; Israeli sabotage and assassinations

Israeli sabotage attempts against Iran’s nuclear program have failed despite repeated Israeli assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and unrelenting US support.

In line with its attempts to cast Iran’s nuclear program in a bad light, the regime’s successive officials have been running a raucous propaganda campaign to sabotage the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities.

This is while the regime itself is the Middle East region’s sole possessor of nuclear weapons that has -- thanks to support provided to it by the United States, its oldest and strongest ally -- evaded joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Pointing to the Israeli regime's recurrent accusations against Iran's nuclear work, the envoy, meanwhile, reminded that the Islamic Republic's peaceful nuclear energy program has been subject to "the most stringent and intrusive nuclear verification, monitoring, and transparency measures ever implemented in a country in the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency)'s history."

Iravani concluded his statement by asserting, "Indeed, such warmongering statements demonstrate that the Israeli regime is responsible for all criminal and terrorist acts committed against Iran and must bear the consequences."

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