Iran's judiciary chief vows retaliation for US attacks

Iranian police have arrested 36 people in Gilan Province on charges of cooperating with Israel and attempting to destabilize the country amid ongoing tensions, a senior police official said Monday.

Hossein Hasanpour, commander of Gilan’s law enforcement forces, linked the arrests to attacks by Israel across Iran in recent days.

Hasanpour said the detainees face charges including spreading disinformation, cooperating with hostile entities, operating drones near military sites, arson, constructing homemade explosives, and collaborating with opposition groups. All individuals have been referred to judicial authorities, he added.

Authorities also seized a range of items during the operation, including communication devices, improvised explosive devices and Starlink satellite internet receivers, the report said.

The top commander of Iran’s Armed Forces warned Monday that Iran’s military will respond to US strikes and is prepared to target American interests.

“The criminal United States must know that, in addition to punishing its illegitimate and aggressive offspring (Israel), the hands of the Islamic combatants in the Armed Forces are now free to take any action against its interests and military—and we will never back down in this regard,” said Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi.

Iran has called on the United Nations to strongly condemn US airstrikes on its nuclear facilities, describing the attacks as a "flagrant violation of international law" in a formal letter from Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council president.

The letter, sent following US strikes on Iran’s Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow nuclear sites on June 21, says the assault targeted peaceful nuclear infrastructure operating under IAEA safeguards and oversight.

Araghchi described the incident as an "act of aggression" by a nuclear-armed state against a non-nuclear one in full compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

He added that the attack followed previous strikes by Israel, a country Iran widely known for possessing undeclared nuclear weapons and not being a party to the NPT.

Araghchi warned that the strikes pose serious humanitarian and environmental risks, citing international laws and IAEA resolutions that prohibit attacks on nuclear facilities.

"This reckless act marks an unprecedented collapse in the international order," Araghchi wrote, demanding the US be held accountable for what he called a "criminal assault" carried out in support of a government led by a "wanted war criminal."

Iran has requested the UN Security Council issue an “unambiguous and forceful condemnation” of the United States and warned that inaction could deepen global instability. Araghchi called for the letter to be circulated as an official Security Council document.

Iran and Russia are coordinating their positions on the current escalation in the Middle East, the TASS news agency reported on Monday citing Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who is visiting Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Araghchi later on Monday.

The Israeli military said Monday it had struck surface-to-surface missile launch and storage sites in western Iran.

“More than 15 Israeli Air Force fighter jets recently carried out precision intelligence-guided strikes, directed by Military Intelligence, in the Kermanshah area of Iran, destroying several surface-to-surface missile launch and storage sites that were aimed at the territory of the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement.

The military also said it attacked six Iranian airports in western, eastern, and central Iran.