The government of Iran today invoked, through its mission to the UN, the United Nations charter, and specifically Article 51, to justify its attack against Israel, considered “legitimate defense”, although it suggests that its response has already concluded.
The mission wrote on its X account that today’s attack, with drones and later with ballistic missiles, “is in response to the aggression of the Zionist regime against our diplomatic legation in Damascus.”
Article 51 reads as follows: “No provision of this Charter shall impair the inherent right of self-defence, individual or collective, in the event of an armed attack against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken the necessary measures to maintain international peace and security.”
Iran is referring to the attack attributed to Israel on April 1 against its consulate in Damascus, which killed seven Iranians (in addition to six Syrians), including several senior officials of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
It was precisely the Revolutionary Guard, an elite military body in Iran, that has claimed responsibility for launching ballistic missiles today against Israel, aimed at “the interior of the occupied territories and the positions of the Zionist regime,” according to the agency. Iranian state IRNA.
The New York Times believes it knows that the specific targets of the attack are the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights and an Israeli Air Force base in the Negev Desert.
The message from the diplomatic mission advises the United States to stay out of this conflict: “It is a conflict between Iran and the thug Israeli regime, from which the UNITED STATES MUST STAY AWAY.”
Furthermore, he suggests that the Iranian retaliation has already ended with the sending of drones and then missiles: “The matter can be considered concluded; however, if the Israeli regime were to make another mistake, Iran’s response will certainly be more serious,” they warn.