In a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and President of the UN Security Council Michael G. Waltz on March 30, Saeed Iravani strongly condemned recent US-Israeli attacks targeting major steel production sites in Iran, describing them as part of a broader pattern of strikes against civilian infrastructure.
He warned that such actions could constitute serious breaches of international humanitarian law and called for immediate international measures to stop the aggression and protect civilian assets.
What follows is the text of the letters:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Excellency,
Upon instructions from my Government, and further to our previous letters concerning the ongoing acts of aggression and unprovoked war perpetrated by the United States and the Israeli regime against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I write to you regarding the recent aerial attacks carried out on 27 March 2026 by the Israeli regime against civilian industrial installations within the Islamic Republic of Iran, specifically targeting the Mobarakeh Steel Complex in Isfahan Province and the Khuzestan Steel Company in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province. These strikes resulted in damage to core production units and associated infrastructure at these facilities. These installations are widely recognised as integral components of Iran's civilian industrial and economic base, producing raw and semi-finished steel for use in construction, transportation, and other non-military sectors.
This is not the first instance in which the Israeli regime has deliberately targeted civilian and vital infrastructure. Since 28 February 2026, in the context of the ongoing war of aggression waged by the United States and the Israeli regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran, civilian infrastructure has been systematically targeted. A particularly egregious example occurred on 7 and 18 March 2026, when oil depots and storage facilities in Tehran, as well as gas refineries in the South Pars region of the northern Persian Gulf, were targeted. These facilities constitute critical civilian infrastructure indispensable to the provision of energy, the stability of the national economy, and the welfare of millions of civilians.
The deliberate attacks against civilian infrastructure in Iran constitute a grave act of State terrorism, in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law, thereby underscoring a pattern of conduct aimed at undermining the basic living conditions of civilians.
Particularly alarming are indications that these attacks were intended to degrade Iran's economic capacity, exert pressure on the civilian population, and generate broader instability. Any such intent would constitute a direct violation of international humanitarian law, including the prohibition against directing attacks against civilian objects, as well as the prohibition of acts or threats of violence, the primary purpose of which is to terrorize the civilian population.
In this context, the deliberate targeting of civilian industrial infrastructure for purposes of economic coercion or collective punishment may amount to serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, entailing individual criminal responsibility for those involved in the planning and execution thereof.
The United States and the Israeli regime bear full international responsibility for these heinous crimes, including violations of Iran's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for the resulting loss of civilian life and the extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure across the country.
Given the seriousness of these violations and their implications for international peace and security, I respectfully call upon the Secretary-General and the Security Council to:
- Unequivocally condemn the attacks carried out by the United States and the Israeli regime against civilian infrastructure in the Islamic Republic of Iran as clear violations of international law, including international humanitarian law;
- Take appropriate measures to ensure accountability for such violations, in accordance with international law;
- Force the United States and the Israeli regime to uphold their binding obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law, and cease all their grave violations and unlawful actions against industrial installations of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and
- Take all necessary measures to bring an end to the war of aggression waged by the United States and the Israeli regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and to safeguard civilian infrastructure and populations in Iran from unlawful attack.
In response to these deliberate and unlawful attacks on Iran's civilian infrastructure, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its inherent right of self-defense under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and will undertake all necessary and proportionate measures to fully safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and vital national interests.
I should be grateful if you would have the present letter circulated as an official document of the Security Council.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.