Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has sent a letter to top UN officials calling for the US to be held accountable for Israel’s attacks on Iran during the 12-Day War, which killed more than 1,000 people, including senior military officials, nuclear scientists, and many civilians.
In the letter, Aragchi cited Trump’s recent comments about how he was “in charge” of the Israeli attacks. “Israel attacked first. That attack was very, very powerful. I was very much in charge of that,” Trump told reporters on November 6. “When Israel attacked Iran first, that was a great day for Israel because that attack did more damage than the rest of them put together.”
Aragchi said the attacks on Iran violated international law and called for compensation. “The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its full and unimpeachable right to pursue, through all available legal means, the establishment of accountability for the responsible States and individuals and to secure compensation for the damages sustained,” he wrote.
The only direct airstrikes that the US launched during the war were the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, but the US supported the Israeli attacks by refueling Israeli jets throughout the 12 days, according to reports in Israeli media. The Trump administration also engaged in a deception campaign aimed at keeping Iran off guard before the initial Israeli attack.
Israel conducted its first airstrikes on Iran on June 13, two days before the US and Iran were scheduled to hold another round of nuclear negotiations. Hours before the initial bombing started, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was committed to a “diplomatic solution” with Iran.
According to Iran’s Foundation for Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, at least 1,100 people were killed in Iran during the bombing campaign, including 132 women and 45 children. The US-funded Washington-based NGO Human Rights Activists in Iran, which is very critical of the Iranian government, has said that it identified 436 civilians and 435 members of Iran’s security forces who were killed. According to Israeli figures, 28 people were killed in Israel by Iranian missile attacks, all but one of them being civilians.
