Iranian envoy to UN condemns US capture of Iran's vessel, urges accountability
Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses members of the United Nations Security Council on resolutions on the situation in Iran and the Middle East at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., March 11, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
Iran has accused the United States of carrying out an unlawful attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Sea of Oman on April 19, warning the United Nations Security Council that the incident amounts to piracy and a serious breach of international law.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Security Council President Jamal Fares Alrowaiei on April 21, Saeed Iravani said US action against the vessel “Touska” requires UN action and accountability, Iranian media reported.
Iravani said US forces targeted the vessel “Toska”, alleging the use of "coercion, intimidation, and the reckless endangerment of the vessel’s crew and their families," describing it as a “grave violation” of international law, including the prohibition on aggression.
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He said it constituted a breach of a ceasefire agreement reached earlier this month. Tehran also argued the attack qualifies as an act of aggression under UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 which defines an act of aggression as a state allowing its armed forces to attack another state’s ships or aircraft, used to legally frame acts of military aggression under international law.
The letter further claimed the operation reflects “piracy in nature” and warned it could escalate tensions and threaten the security of key maritime routes.
Iran urged the Security Council and UN secretary-general to condemn the incident, and ensure "full accountability for those responsible, and demanding the US to immediate and unconditional release of the vessel, its crew and their families, and all those affected by this incident."
⚡️🇺🇸🇮🇷🇺🇳Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir-Saeid Iravani wrote a letter to UN Secretary General Guterres and President of the Security Council Alrowaiei calling for them to swiftly and firmly condemn the U.S. seizure of the Touska and the detention of its crew. pic.twitter.com/3NbooQhxLy
The Islamic Republic formally requested the letter be circulated as an official Security Council document.
The US and Israel began the war on February 28 with aerial bombardments of Iran, and one of the first strikes in Iran killed over 170 people, many of whom were children.
The conflict quickly spread to Gulf states that host US military bases and to Lebanon after Hezbollah launched retaliatory strikes against the Israeli attacks on its territory.
More than 5,000 civilians have been killed across the region and hundreds of thousands displaced so far, mostly in Iran and Lebanon due to US-Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure, and the war has led to the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint in global energy markets between Iran and Oman, sending oil prices soaring and fears that the global economy could enter a recession.
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Iran has repeatedly exploited its ability to control the passage of oil tankers and other ships in the strait in response to US and Israeli attacks.
A Pakistan-mediated fragile 2-week ceasefire was achieved less than 2 hours before Trump's threat to erase Iran as per his Truth Social post where he claimed an 'entire civilisation will die tonight' sparking nuclear anxieties.
This was followed by talks in Islamabad between April 11-12 which ended with no deal reached. The ceasefire was set to expire today but has been extended even as the US blockade of Iran's ports and Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz remains in place.
Trump said in his statement he was willing to extend the ceasefire because "the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so," a reference to US-Israeli assassinations of some of the country's leaders in the war's first weeks, including the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been succeeded by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei.