Iran’s envoy to the U.N. accused President Biden of a “dangerous provocation” in saying he knew of Israel’s plans to strike.
A senior Iranian diplomat has warned the United Nations that the United States would be held responsible over its role in aiding and abetting Israel as it plans to strike the Islamic Republic in a worsening series of escalations to rock the region over the past year, according to a letter obtained by Newsweek.
The letter, sent Monday by Iranian Permanent Representative to the U.N. Amir Saeid Iravani to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Security Council President Pascale Christine Baeriswyl, condemned the “profoundly alarming and provocative statement” made by President Joe Biden on Friday in relation to Israel’s deliberations on responding to an Iranian missile attack this month.
Questioned during a press encounter in Germany if he was aware of how and when Israel would conduct its operation, Biden told reporters, “Yes and yes.” Asked if he would reveal the details, he replied, “No and no.”
Iravani argued in his letter that in disclosing “that he possesses knowledge of how and when Israel intends to launch an attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran”, Biden indicated “the United States’ tacit approval and explicit support for Israel’s unlawful military aggression against Iran”, constituting a “dangerous provocation and blatant violation of international law.”
He warned that U.S. involvement in the operation, including through providing “technical expertise and advanced weaponry, including sophisticated air defense systems”, would only “further instigate and embolden Israel to conduct aggressive attacks against Iran [and] would make the U.S. government ‘complicit’ in any Israeli aggression against Iran and its consequences” at a time when Israel stood accused by Iran of “ongoing war crimes and genocide” in Gaza and Lebanon.
