Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva has filed a formal complaint with the International Intergovernmental Organization for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF), demanding urgent action over US attacks on the country’s railway infrastructure, including a strike on a railway bridge in Golestan province.
In a letter to OTIF Secretary-General, Ambassador Ali Bahreini, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, said the attack on a railway bridge in Golestan province was not an isolated incident but part of a “continuing pattern” of targeting Iran’s railways and other civilian transport infrastructure.
“The attack is yet another example of strikes against facilities serving public transport, economic activities and regional connectivity,” the letter stated, urging OTIF to pursue the matter seriously through its legal and institutional mechanisms.
Bahreini further warned that attacks on rail infrastructure not only damage a member state’s assets but also threaten the broader safety, security, and reliability of international rail transport.
He called on OTIF to take appropriate action within the framework of its mandate and relevant conventions.
The complaint comes after US strikes targeted railway infrastructure, including a bridge on the Tehran-Mashhad line on Thursday, just hours before the burial of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in Mashhad.
The attack forced the suspension of train services between the capital and the eastern holy city.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways blamed “a criminal attack by the US-Israeli enemy” for the disruption, dispatching repair teams while arranging road transport for stranded passengers.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) accused the US of targeting “two bridges in the eastern provinces leading toward Mashhad in an effort to overshadow” the funeral of the martyred Leader.
Official warning on infrastructure attacks
The complaint follows a statement by Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who warned on Friday that any attack on Iranian infrastructure would be met with retaliation.
“Any attack on infrastructure will be retaliated against, and the criminal Zionist regime responsible for these atrocities will not be safe from the response of our fighters,” Zolghadr said in a statement.
The attack on the Golestan bridge was part of a broader wave of US strikes on July 7 and 8, which also hit railway lines connecting Tehran to Mashhad.
According to Iranian authorities, at least 17 people have been killed in the US attacks.
Bahreini had previously written to OTIF during the 40-day war that started in February to condemn US attacks on Iran’s railways, urging immediate action.
In response, OTIF had indicated it was updating its legal frameworks to consider punitive measures against attacks on rail infrastructure, describing any strike on railways as “a very serious matter.”
