Tehran – In a letter to Secretary-General of the nation-state Antonio Guterres, Mohammad Reza Mokbah Dezhooli, chairman of the Iranian Academy of Sciences, called for a condemnation of the Israeli war imposed through the Israeli war and the Israeli war, through the event of a clear science commitment with Iran, through the protection of the science sector through the clear action and the Iranian act. the sanctity of scientific and academic institutions and the inviolable sovereignty of all countries.
In his letter, the official explained the illegality of invasions against Israel, including intentional bombardment of cities, civilians, scientists, scientists, scientific institutions, medical facilities, cultural locations, and cities targeting peaceful nuclear facilities. assignment.
The letter reads as follows:
Early on Friday, June 13th, the world witnessed an indecent calamity, both in its legal conscience and historical memory, a planned act of war against the sovereign territory of the Islamic Republic, which must be called carefully illegal and unlawful by the Israeli regime as having an unlawful intentional intention. It was a fierce violation of international law, a violation of the UN Charter, and a humiliation of the basic principles of justice, sovereignty and the civilized conduct of the state.
With calculated accuracy and manifesto intent, the Israeli regime attacked Iranian cities, prominent private lodgings, scientific institutions, medical facilities, cultural sites, and peaceful nuclear facilities protected under the supervision of International Atomic Energy Agency. These were symbols of the country striving for knowledge, peace and cultural dignity. Among the victims were scholars, researchers and experts dedicated to the service of humanity. Such intentional targeting of individuals and institutions makes this attack a moral crime. It’s a strike against the idea of civilization.
The Islamic Republic Academy of Sciences in Iran has raised its voice in stern protests as a major guardian of the nation’s scientific life and as a member of the broader global academic community. When the lab becomes a battlefield and scientists are marked for death, the very contracts that hold the international community are torn apart. As the hospital is attacked and the research centre is reduced to tile rubs, it is not only the soil of Iran that will bleed, but also the shared moral fabric of injured humanity.
We explicitly assert that these crimes constitute a direct and intentional violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. We expressly argue that these actions constitute a direct and intentional violation of Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter. This core principle is reaffirmed in the Declaration on the Principles of International Law on Friendship Relationships between States (UN General Assembly Resolution 2625, 1970). Furthermore, intentional targeting of critical private infrastructures, including nuclear facilities, universities and hospitals, generates basic norms of international humanitarian law. Such actions have recently been recognized as war crimes and crimes against humanity, as reflected in a warrant issued against two senior officers on March 5, 2024 for ordering strikes over Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Therefore, attacks on Iran’s sovereign facilities are both symbolic and material and must be understood as a serious criminal offence against the moral and legal order of the international community.
These actions violate the Convention on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and guarantee the rights of all Signatories to pursue peaceful nuclear technology under international security measures. They undermine the authority of the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose neutrality and reliability have been attacked by this illegal assault. And they ignore the perpetual authority of UN Security Council Resolution 487 (1981), which condemned military attacks on nuclear facilities under IAEA supervision. This is a condemnation that speaks directly to the current time.
However, the illegality of this attack has grown even further. This violates Article 56 of Protocol I, in addition to the 1949 Geneva Convention. This is a provision that has achieved customary international law status, although not universally ratified. The article expressly prohibits attacks on installations that include dangerous forces, including nuclear power plants, where such attacks can cause serious loss of civilian lives. Targeting Iran’s protected nuclear facilities has long been tested as peace by the IAEA and constitutes a violation of this norm and a risk to regional and global security.
The gravity of this law is further emphasized by the authoritative voices of the international community. In Resolution A/RES/78/316 on July 15, 2024, the United Nations General Assembly condemned the attack on Ukraine’s Zaporidia nuclear power plant, confirming the inviolability of civilian nuclear infrastructure. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s General Assembly has also repeatedly confirmed its nuclear security orders and obligation to protect scientific sites from acts of war through Resolutions GC (XXIX)/RES/444 and GC (XXXIV)/RES/533.
In the latest IAEA report, the IAEA director confirmed that there is no evidence that Iran’s nuclear program will be diverted to weaponization. This is a conclusion strengthened by an assessment by the US intelligence agency. These findings negate the pretext for military action under the guise of nuclear threats. Therefore, the claims of “expected self-defense” that have been advanced by the Israeli regime and reflected by the allies must therefore be firmly rejected.
The doctrine of preventive wars, pretending to be self-defense, has been firmly rejected by the international community. Resolution 3314 (1974) confirmed that the General Assembly constituted an attack, an international crime permitted under the Roman law of the International Criminal Court, as there are no actual armed attacks.
Justifying “preventive self-defense” is a sign of an era in which law succumbs to power, an era in which restraints are ridiculed and international order collapses on strategic whims. The letter submitted by the United States to the Chairman of the Security Council on June 27, 2025 is intended to justify such a position, representing a burst of peace in the normative architecture, rather than a contribution to legal dialogue.
These attacks constitute a humiliation against the very idea of international law. The Israeli regime is trying to normalize the assassination of scientists and bombardment of academic and research institutions. Elimination of scholars, erasure of knowledge hubs, and suppression of scientific voices through violence represent a serious threat to the principles of peaceful coexistence and the fragile order of international cooperation.
This act of aggression is a challenge for all institutions that sacred the value of scientific advancement, cultural autonomy and human dignity. It is a moment to ask the United Nations to reaffirm its important role as a guardian of international peace, justice and scientific cooperation. The ideals in which the United Nations were established — suppressing violence, protecting life, promoting justice — remain more important than ever at this moment.
We call on your moral authority and institutional leadership to condemn this war of attack on the strongest possible conditions.
This should include the rapid involvement of relevant international mechanisms to investigate strikes as violations of humanitarian and scientific standards. Promotion and support of independent UN and UNESCO fact-finding missions to assess the sustained damages of academic institutions, research centers and peaceful nuclear facilities. Encourage appropriate international legal pathways to ensure accountability within the framework of international law. We acknowledge that such measures rely on the cooperation of relevant UN agencies.
Looking back at this moment, future historians should not say that the world was vaguely watching while a lawless regime launched an attack on science, murdered scholars, and surrounded by a common building of human civilization. Instead, let us record the rise of voices from every corner of the globe, especially those entrusted with the highest international responsibility.