TEHRAN – Addressing an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council on Monday, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, condemned the United States for its military attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of the nation's democratically elected President and First Lady. 

The Iranian diplomat said the saga was merely the latest chapter in Washington’s long-standing campaign of international lawlessness and a direct warning to sovereign nations everywhere, including the Islamic Republic.

"The abduction of the democratically elected President and the First Lady of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela by the United States constitutes a flagrant violation of customary international law," Iravani stated, arguing it was a "grave assault on the sovereign equality of States." He branded the overall U.S. military aggression as "State terrorism" and a "manifest violation of the UN Charter."

The military attack on Saturday and the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife represented the culmination of a U.S. regime change policy in Venezuela spanning more than two decades. For years, the United States has sought to strangle the Bolivarian Republic through brutal, illegal unilateral coercive measures—a form of economic terrorism designed to impoverish the Venezuelan people and destabilize their government. Washington has openly backed coup attempts, recognized fraudulent shadow governments, and plundered Venezuela’s sovereign assets, stealing its gold and oil revenues in an act of international theft.

Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether abducting the country’s president will achieve Washington’s desired outcome: control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, as explicitly admitted by President Donald Trump and several of his officials in recent days. Following an order from the supreme court, Maduro’s Vice President has now assumed leadership and vowed to continue resisting U.S. bullying alongside the rest of the administration. Meanwhile, the Venezuelan people have taken to the streets in large numbers to protest this act of U.S. aggression.

In his UNSC address, Iravani also highlighted recent threats made by Trump against his country, warning about the immediate dangers posed by the “same rogue state.”

"In recent days, the President of the United States has repeatedly issued public threats of the use of force against the Islamic Republic of Iran," he noted, highlighting a blatant violation of the UN Charter.

Trump has stated on two separate occasions that he would strike Iran if police forces cracked down on what he called “peaceful protesters.” The individuals the American president refers to are not the business owners protesting the collapse of the Iranian Rial—an economic crisis directly resulting from the so-called maximum pressure campaign he initiated in 2018.

Rather, those Trump is looking to protect are armed groups who have killed police officers, ambushed government, police stations, and military sites, assaulted civilians for opposing them, and set fire to public property, private businesses, and random vehicles parked in the streets.

Iranian officials have stated that peaceful protesters’ demands are respected and their right to demonstrate is protected, but they have warned that violent rioters with ties to foreign intelligence services will be “put in their place.” Multiple Israeli and American officials have admitted that Mossad agents are operating inside Iran to exploit the unrest—admissions later chastised by their own analysts for having unwittingly alienated the Iranian public.

Iravani excoriated Washington’s "crocodile tears" and hypocritical claims of supporting the Iranian people, reminding the Council of the United States' "well-documented record of intervention, the use of force, and the imposition of unlawful unilateral coercive measures against Iran." This record, he detailed, includes America's "direct political, military, and operational support and involvement" in the Israeli regime’s war of aggression against Iran in June 2025, which cost Iranian civilian lives and targeted civilian infrastructure.

Washington entered a joint war against Iran with Israel amidst nuclear negotiations with Iranians, and while it had scheduled a new round of talks to take place in Oman. That assault was also in violation of international law and the UN Charter. Furthermore, it tarnished America's reputation by attacking the very party it was negotiating with to prevent escalation.

"The United States of America will bear full responsibility for any consequences arising from its unlawful threats and any ensuing escalation," Iravani declared, reaffirming Iran’s inherent right to self-defence. Multiple Iranian officials and relevant bodies have issued stark warning in recent days, saying that this time around, they would not care for taking reciprocal action if assaulted by the U.S. Iran’s Security Chief Ali Larijani said in a post on X that Iran’s first target would be American soldiers stationed in the region, a warning that indicates a new Iranian approach as the country has traditionally avoided deliberately causing casualties in its previous engagements with Washington and Israel.

The core of the Iranian ambassador’s argument was a warning to the international community. He accused the United States of seeking to "substitute its domestic law for international law," a move that "strikes at the very foundations of the Charter-based international legal order." He characterized the U.S. doctrine of "peace through strength" as nothing more than "the law of the jungle and the rule of force."

The paralysis of the Security Council, he argued, has fostered a "dangerous climate of impunity," emboldening Washington to act as a global aggressor. The scenes from Venezuela today, he implied, could be a preview for any nation that dares to pursue an independent path.

The emergency session concluded with no immediate action from the Council.