CNIC Statement: The United States and Israel attack on Iran – All parties concerned must cease fire immediately
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a large-scale military operation, claiming imminent threats from Iran, and called on the Iranian people to overthrow the regime.
Iran has indeed been enriching uranium to a high level, and concerns about its potential development of nuclear weapons persist. However, Iran’s nuclear development issue had shown certain progress under the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) signed in 2015 by Iran and six other nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, and Russia. Yet it was the first Trump administration (2018) that unilaterally withdrew from this framework. Regardless of the fact that there are many problems in the Iranian political system, the overthrow of a government by foreign military force is a clear intervention in domestic affairs. Even more so, attacks that result in the loss of many civilian lives are absolutely unacceptable.
Israel, attacking Iran alongside the United States, secretly engaged in nuclear development in the 1960s. Israel takes the stance of neither confirming nor denying its possession of nuclear weapons, and it has not ratified the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), yet its nuclear possession is tacitly accepted. It is clearly a double standard for a country tacitly accepted by the international community as a de facto nuclear-armed state to condemn nuclear developments in other countries and attempt to impede these by force.
The U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2025 were unilateral actions that disregarded the IAEA safeguards framework, the foundation of the NPT, and severely undermined the NPT regime. These current attacks by the two countries can only be described as an outrageous act that undermines the very foundations of international order built on international law.
At the same time, Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Gulf States following the initial aggression by the two countries, which have resulted in many civilian casualties, are also totally unacceptable. As a result, neighboring countries have also begun retaliating against Iran, bringing about a vicious and escalating cycle of violence. It is always the civilians who become the victims of geopolitical conflicts and suffer the most.
The United States, Israel, Iran, and the neighboring countries that have joined the conflict must implement a ceasefire immediately. With no functioning mediators present at this time, we strongly urge the Japanese government to make the most of the unique ties of trust established over decades with Middle Eastern countries and the U.S. to the fullest extent, and exert proactive diplomatic efforts to bring all parties to the table as soon as possible.
