ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran on Monday said at the UN that its people are endangered under a “reckless military aggression,” accusing Western states of politicizing human rights allegations and remaining silent on attacks that have killed more than 1,300 civilians.

During a UN Human Rights Council interactive dialogue on Iran’s human rights situation following the January protest crackdown, Iran’s ambassador to the UN Ali Bahreini said the focus should instead be on US-Israeli attacks endangering civilians within Iranian territory.

“Today, the most urgent and fundamental human rights issue concerning Iran is the imminent threat to the lives of 90 million people whose lives are in immediate and grave danger under the shadow of reckless military aggression,” Bahreini said in a speech.

He accused “lawless and unscrupulous actors” of conducting the offensives that show “no restraint in killing civilians or in trampling upon the most basic and universally recognized human rights.”

His remarks come amid an ongoing conflict that began after joint US-Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran in late February, prompting retaliatory attacks across the region and a wider military escalation that has claimed thousands of lives.

The strikes have targeted civilian infrastructure, which the US claims are rendered “legitimate military targets,” due to the alleged presence of Iranian armed forces, a claim rejected by Tehran, which accused the US of violating human rights principles.

Most notable was the attack on a girls’ primary school in Minab in the south of Iran, killing at least 150, including many students, which was reportedly a US strike likely seeking to target an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base near the school, according to an investigation by The New York Times.

“Why did these [Western] countries remain conspicuously silent in the face of the killing of innocent schoolchildren in Minab? Why was such a heinous crime not unequivocally condemned?” the ambassador stressed in his speech.

He argued that the violations committed against Iranian residents have been “overshadowed by peripheral political narratives,” and accused Western countries of using “unfounded and politically motivated allegations” to justify the purported acts of aggression.

“Today, in the face of more than 1,300 innocent lives lost and over 7,000 people… the international community must not remain silent,” Bahreini said.

Amid its retaliatory strikes targeting 12 regional countries, Iran has expanded its attacks from US diplomatic missions and airports housing an American military presence to hotels, neighborhoods, and other civilian infrastructure, claiming US personnel and intelligence are using them as hiding spots.

The countries have accused Iran of targeting civilian infrastructure that has led to heavy material damage and civilian casualties, denouncing the attacks as unjustified and contrary to international law.