Iran has accused the United States and Israel of carrying out indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas as their joint military campaign against the country entered its twelfth day.
In a statement on Friday, the embassy of Iran in Cyprus said Washington had failed to provide a “coherent or convincing explanation” for the operation, which Tehran described as an unjustified act of aggression. They argued that repeated changes in statements by US leaders about the aims of the campaign suggested uncertainty over its objectives.
Growing opposition to conflict
According to the statement, US officials have struggled to justify the military action both domestically and internationally. Iranian authorities claimed Washington had failed to convince the American public or members of Congress, and had also lost credibility with global public opinion.
Tehran also pointed to anti-war demonstrations in several countries, saying the protests reflected growing opposition to the conflict worldwide.
Iran accused US and Israeli forces of intensifying bombardments after failing to achieve their declared military objectives. The statement said that strikes had targeted residential neighbourhoods, government administrative buildings such as provincial and county headquarters, public squares and other urban areas.
Hospitals, medical facilities, schools, infrastructure sites, civilian aircraft and fishing ports were also among the locations which were hit during the attacks.
War crimes
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said the strikes had led to a sharp rise in civilian casualties. According to the organisation, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed and several thousand others injured since the start of the campaign.
Iran described the alleged attacks on civilian targets as “grave war crimes” and said they were intended to intimidate the population and undermine public morale. The statement compared the attacks to the bombing of civilian areas in London during the Second World War.
Tehran also accused pro-Israeli lobbying groups and activists of spreading fabricated material online, including images generated using artificial intelligence and what it described as false reports about events in Iran. It said such claims had been exposed as inaccurate, referring in particular to reports surrounding the deaths of 175 Iranian schoolgirls.
Iran to continue responding to attacks
The statement further argued that most governments around the world had condemned the war as illegal under international law, including the United Nations Charter, with the exception of the United States, Israel and a small number of allied countries.
Iran also criticised what it described as insufficient responses from international organisations to attacks on civilians and medical infrastructure, saying the scale of the reactions did not match the severity of the situation.
“If there is a genuine will among states and international organisations to end this illegal war and safeguard international peace and security, they must clearly and unequivocally condemn this unlawful act,” the statement said.
Iran said its armed forces would continue military operations in response to the attacks, which it described as an exercise of the country’s right to self-defence. According to the statement, Iranian forces have so far targeted only military assets belonging to US and Israeli forces and will continue to do so until the military campaign ends.
The United States and Israel have not publicly responded to the specific allegations contained in the statement.