TEHRAN – Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations called on the world body to take urgent action following U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about resuming nuclear weapons tests, saying they are a grave threat to world peace and a violation of international law.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and UN Security Council President Michael Imran Kanu on November 4, Saeed Irabani condemned US President Donald Trump’s “reckless” and “alarming” comments regarding the possibility of resuming nuclear weapons testing.
“This move constitutes a clear violation of the United States’ binding obligations under Article 6 of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons with respect to effective action toward nuclear disarmament,” the letter said.
The 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), to which the United States is a signatory, prohibits nuclear tests. As a result, the majority of nuclear-weapon states have not conducted any tests for decades. According to the United Nations, Russia (then the Soviet Union) conducted its last nuclear test in 1990, followed by the United Kingdom in 1991, the United States in 1992, and both China and France in 1996. North Korea is the only country to conduct a nuclear test in the past 20 years, most recently in 2017.
In his letter, Iravani also referred to the US government’s June 24, 2025 airstrike on Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities, denying the attack as a blatant violation of international law and the United Nations Charter. This comes after President Trump recently threatened to order new strikes if the Iranian government attempts to repair three damaged facilities, including the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz and the Isfahan nuclear power plant.
On June 13, Israel launched a blatant and unprovoked act of aggression against Iran, sparking a 12-day war that left at least 1,064 people dead in the country, including military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians. The United States also entered the war by bombing three Iranian nuclear facilities in flagrant violation of international law. All nuclear facilities were monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
A few days ago, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, described the 12-day US and Israeli military invasion of Iran as a “clear and blatant violation of the UN Charter” and warned that it would have devastating effects on humans and the environment.
In her report to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, Sato said the joint Israeli-US military attack had caused untold suffering to the Iranian people, which she noted “deserves redress and compensation.”
“These attacks should never have happened,” Sato said. “They posed the risk of catastrophic humanitarian and environmental impacts that could destabilize the entire region.”
Sato stressed that the use of force by Israel and the United States is a “clear violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.”
The report highlighted the human cost of the conflict, noting that around 1,100 people have been killed, including women and children, and that hospitals, schools and civilian infrastructure have also been targeted. One of the most controversial attacks was on Tehran’s Evin Prison, which reporters described as “unjustified”.
In addition to the casualties, Sato said the war has displaced millions of Iranians and severely disrupted medical care for vulnerable populations. “Pregnant women were denied prenatal and emergency care,” she noted.
The conflict ended on June 23 when the US president announced a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel. The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterated that it had not initiated hostilities and declared that it would stop responding if Israel ceases its illegal aggression.