In 1977, during a debate in the Sixth Committee of the UN General Assembly, the Islamic Republic of Iran noted that until the adoption of the two 1977 Additional Protocols, the prohibition on inflicting violence on civilians was not explicitly established. However, it concluded that the protection of non-combatants in armed conflicts was not a new phenomenon: “As early as 1621, the Code of Articles of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden had included principles on that subject which had since developed into a customary prohibition of violence against non-combatants.” 

In 1996, during a debate in the UN Security Council on the situation in Lebanon, the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran condemned what he called the “cowardly, though savage, attacks against defenceless civilians”.