Identical letters dated 9 September 2008 from the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran 
to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General 
and the President of the Security Council


	Upon instruction from my Government and pursuant to the previous letters of this Permanent Mission, including letters circulated as documents A/61/571-S/2006/884, A/61/954-S/2007/354, A/62/705-S/2008/117 and S/2008/377, I wish to inform you that the Israeli regime, emboldened by the absence of any action on the part of the United Nations and in blatant violation of the most fundamental principles of international law, continues its unabated outrageous and vicious threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its officials. In this regard, I wish to bring to your attention the following, as some of the most recent statements made by the said regime’s officials in a series of such insolent and irresponsible threats:
	1.	As recently as today, 9 September 2008, and as reported by the media, the Israeli Cabinet Minister, Rafi Eitan, once again put on display the aggressive and terrorist nature of the Israeli regime by making a threat that the said regime finds it an acceptable option to kidnap the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Asked if kidnapping the Iranian President was acceptable, the said Israeli official replied, in his interview with a German magazine, “Yes. Any way is a possibility.”
	2.	A few days earlier, on 3 September 2008, another Israeli Minister, Ehud Barak, once again repeated the Israeli regime’s threat to use force against the Islamic Republic of Iran during an interview with a television channel, by recycling the same tired, yet insolent, statement that the said regime will use “any option” against the Islamic Republic of Iran. 
	These dangerous threats of resorting to criminal acts against the officials of a sovereign country, or threatening to use force against a Member of the United Nations not only constitute manifest violations of international law and contravene the most fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations, but are against the basic values of the civilized world and, thus, require a resolute and clear response on the part of the United Nations, particularly the Security Council. 
	It is indeed unfortunate that the inaction of the Security Council vis-ŕ-vis the previous threats of the said regime against Iran and other countries of the region has emboldened it to continue its unlawful behaviour and policies and to openly threaten to use force against Members of the United Nations or to resort to criminal acts against their officials. 
	As stated in our previous communications, the Islamic Republic of Iran has never threatened nor has any intention to threaten other nations. Nonetheless, in accordance with its inherent right under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, Iran would not hesitate to act in self-defence to respond to any attack against its territory and people. 
	I would appreciate if you could bring the contents of this letter to the attention of the Security Council members and circulate it as a document of the Council.


(Signed) Mohammad Khazaee
Ambassador
Permanent Representative









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 United Nations
S/2008/599
 
 Security Council
Distr.: General
12 September 2008

Original: English


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