US attack on Iranian rescue boats amounts to war crime - Mehr News Agency
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/246502/
US attack on Iranian rescue boats amounts to war crime
TEHRAN, Jul. 25 (MNA) – Iran's deputy UN envoy on Friday strongly condemned the United States for deliberately attacking two Iranian search-and-rescue vessels operating in Iranian territorial waters, calling the strike a war crime.
In a letter to the UN Secretary-General, the Security Council president, the head of the International Maritime Organization and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Ambassador Gholamhossein Darzi said the two vessels, 'Naji-15' and 'Naji-16', were attacked in the early hours of July 23 while conducting exclusively humanitarian search-and-rescue missions in the territorial waters of Hormozgan province. The vessels sustained significant damage, he said.
Darzi said the attack was not an isolated incident. Since the beginning of the U.S. and Israeli military aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran on 28 February 2026, Iranian search-and-rescue vessels and marine ambulances, which have been exclusively engaged in humanitarian and life-saving missions, have been repeatedly attacked, he wrote, describing a disturbing pattern of deliberate attacks on humanitarian assets entitled to special protection under international law.
The ambassador cited Article 27 of the Second Geneva Convention of 1949, which states that small craft used by states or officially recognised lifeboat institutions for coastal rescue operations shall be respected and protected. He said the two Iranian vessels fell under this protection and were not engaged in any military activity at the time of the attack.
The deliberate targeting of vessels exclusively dedicated to maritime search-and-rescue operations constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the law of the sea, and amounts to a war crime, Darzi underlined. He said the U.S. action endangered not only rescue personnel but also the safety of all seafarers in need of assistance, regardless of their nationality, and seriously undermined the international legal system established to protect humanitarian operations at sea.
Iran called on the Security Council to explicitly condemn the violation, hold the perpetrators fully accountable, and take effective measures to prevent the recurrence of attacks on humanitarian maritime vessels, equipment and personnel. It also asked the UN Secretary-General to work with the IMO and ICRC to ensure full respect for international humanitarian law.
Darzi stressed that Iran would continue to provide maritime search-and-rescue services safely, continuously and without any discrimination to all persons in distress at sea, and that no act of aggression will prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from fulfilling its humanitarian responsibilities.
SCO member states denounce US aggression against Iran
Iran urges BRICS to take clear stance against US aggression
Iran reserves rights to retaliate against any aggressive acts
Iran determined to defend natl. sovereignty against US attack
Iran ready to open new phase of war, employ new strategies
Two Saudi oil tankers hit with drones, missiles: Yemen
US evacuates Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar following Iran strike
Iranian military source responds to Trump's new threat
Casualties among US troops reported in latest IRGC strikes
Iran, Pakistan emphasize strengthening regional security
Strait of Hormuz reopening tied to curbing Israel: Expert
MP asks for Hormuz reclosure if attacks on Lebanon go on
'Cuba will fight if we must fight'
Why US can’t bypass Iran’s Strait of Hormuz chokehold
The leader whose influence knew no frontiers
Why is US limiting its attacks to south of Iran?
Trump’s vicious cycle of threats against Iran
America's Adventure in the Persian Gulf
How has Iran defeated the pressure equation?
Iran's Khwarizmi: Father of algebra
Letter from Mideast: A shared Arab dream
Tasu’a; Day of loyalty, resistance in Shia history
VIDEO: Lightning strikes Chinese rocket during launch
UN experts urge independent investigation into Minab School
FM Araghchi meets with his Kyrgyz counterpart on SCO meeting
Large blast reported in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district
Iran’s most celebrated film, TV actor "Akbar Abdi" dies at 66
EU voices grave concern over Israeli escalation in West Bank
Death toll from Venezuela earthquake rises to 5,546
Starship successfully completes test flight
Yemen launches retaliatory attacks on Saudi Arabia
Israeli forces raid multiple West Bank towns overnight
US attack on Iranian rescue boats amounts to war crime
Blasts heard in Saudi Arabia, flights disrupted in south
China offers assistance, support for West Asia peace
One US trooper to die for every Iranian civilian martyred
Iran determined to defend its national security, interests
Iran, Oman discuss Hormuz security after US strikes
Iran, Egypt FMs discuss ties, regional developments in phone
Iran’s Rostamiyan clinches bronze in 10m air pistol at ISSF
© 2017 Mehr News Agency. All rights reserved
تمام حقوق برای خبرگزاری مهر محفوظ است.