WANA (Jun 27) – Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, condemned Israel’s repeated targeting of children, saying the regime must be held fully accountable for its crimes—particularly its deliberate policies and practices of targeting children.

 

Speaking at the UN Security Council’s open debate on “Children and Armed Conflict” on Thursday, Iravani said: “In recent weeks, the world has watched in sorrow and outrage as the Israeli regime repeated its familiar pattern of child killings—this time, in Iran. Since June 13, during its brutal aggression against my country, Israel has deliberately targeted civilians, killing dozens of children, including infants as young as two months old.”

 

He continued: “The horrific crimes and systematic, large-scale attacks carried out by this occupying regime are escalating. This is an urgent warning to the international community and a clear indication of the grave threats Israel poses to the lives, health, welfare, and safety of children. Nevertheless, the regime will be fully held accountable for its crimes, especially its child-targeting policies and practices.”

 

Here is the full statement by the Ambassador of Iran to the UN:

 

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

 

Madam President,

 

Let me begin by thanking you for convening this important annual open debate. I also appreciate the contributions of the briefers.

 

It is deeply regrettable that international humanitarian law continues to be systematically and grossly violated. Children remain the primary victims of wars they neither started nor wanted.

 

Armed conflicts threaten the lives and health of children, leaving lasting impacts on their well-being, education, development, and future. Upholding international humanitarian law is a fundamental obligation that all parties must respect to ensure the effective protection of children.

 

Madam President,

 

According to United Nations reports, since 2023, over 50,000 Palestinian children have been killed or injured by the Israeli regime.

 

The brutality of the Israeli regime has reached such extremes that a new term has emerged: “wounded child without surviving family”—referring to Palestinian children who are left alive but have lost their entire families.

 

In addition to deliberately targeting children and vital civilian infrastructure such as schools and hospitals, the regime has deliberately denied hundreds of thousands of children access to food, water, medicine, and other essential services.

 

Today, many of these children are victims of deliberate starvation used as a weapon of war by the Israeli regime, while also facing the risk of being targeted while queuing for humanitarian aid.

 

Madam President,

 

In recent weeks, the world has watched in sorrow and outrage as the Israeli regime repeated its pattern of child killings—this time, in Iran.

 

During its barbaric attack on my country beginning on June 13, Israel deliberately targeted civilians and killed dozens of children, including infants as young as two months old.

 

These horrific crimes and systematic, large-scale attacks by the occupying regime are on the rise. This serves as an urgent warning to the international community and clearly illustrates the serious dangers posed by the Israeli regime to children’s lives, health, well-being, and safety.

 

Nonetheless, this regime will be held fully accountable for its crimes—especially for its deliberate policies and practices of targeting children.

 

Madam President,

 

Last week, the Israeli regime was once again included on the UN blacklist of parties that commit grave violations against children in armed conflict—a list under the Security Council’s purview.

 

Although this is a necessary first step, it is by no means sufficient to stop the regime’s deliberate targeting of children.

 

The UN Security Council must fulfill its responsibilities to protect children’s lives without delay and take decisive, enforceable actions against Israel’s child-killing regime.

 

While the United States has obstructed all UN Security Council efforts to protect Palestinian children, we must not yield to such hypocrisy and double standards. All legal avenues must be pursued to protect the Palestinian people, especially their children.

 

In conclusion, Madam President,

I categorically reject the baseless, irrelevant, and fabricated accusations made yesterday in this Council by the representative of the child-killing Israeli regime against my country. That regime has no choice but to resort to lies and misinformation in this Council, yet such accusations are not even worth responding to—the facts speak for themselves.

 

Thank you.

A picture of a child is seen at his house following an Israeli strike on a building last week, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 25, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)

More information: 

On June 13, Israel blatantly violated international law and Iran’s national sovereignty by launching a military attack on Tehran and several other cities, including nuclear facilities. This terrorist act killed a number of scientists, military personnel, and civilians.

 

Following this aggression, on Sunday, June 22, the United States joined Israel’s war on Iran by directly attacking nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

 

In response, on June 23, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that, following a clear act of war by the U.S. against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities—and in accordance with the decision of the Supreme National Security Council and under the leadership of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters—it launched a powerful and destructive missile strike on the Al Udeid base in Qatar. This base is the command center of the U.S. Air Force and the most strategic American military asset in West Asia.

 

Finally, on June 24, the U.S. President announced a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel. The Islamic Republic of Iran, stating that it was not the initiator of the war, affirmed that as long as Israel halts its unlawful aggression, Iran has no intention of continuing its retaliatory operations.