Envoy Slams Anti-Iran Allegations by US as Propaganda Campaign

“Today we heard unsubstantiated allegations against my country which I categorically reject as a misleading propaganda campaign against Iran and its role in the region, designed and perpetrated hysterically by Israel and certain countries in the region, including those who fully supported Saddam Hossein’s aggression against Iran,” Khoshroo said on Thursday, addressing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Open Debate on “Situation in the Middle East, Including Palestine”.

The remarks came after some US officials, including Defense Secretary James Mattis, have recently repeated anti-Iran allegations.

The following is the full text of Khoshroo’s statement:

In the Name of God, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful

My Delegation welcomes this opportunity to discuss the question of Palestine as the central to all conflicts in the Middle East during the quarterly open debates of the Security Council and thanks SRSG for his briefing.

I align myself with the statement made by the Bolivarian Republic Venezuela on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The occupation has been at the center of international discussions on Palestine in the Middle East. By blaming all others but the occupier, the US seeks to erase the question, rather than addressing it.

The US and the Israeli regime want to remove the Palestinian issue that is central to the all conflicts in the Middle East from these open debates. They do not like the UN reports that document and expose Israeli apartheid and inhumane policies to the world. And when it was presented, in reaction, they pushed for the report's withdrawal and forced the resignation of its author, proudly.

Today we heard unsubstantiated allegations against my country which I categorically reject as a misleading propaganda campaign against Iran and its role in the region, designed and perpetrated hysterically by Israel and certain countries in the region, including those who fully supported Saddam Hossein’s aggression against Iran.

The Israeli regime’s record is full of aggression against its neighbors, other countries in the Middle East region and beyond — at least 14 times since 1948.

Israel continues to flout all international regimes governing WMDs by refusing to adhere to the NPT and the Chemical and the Biological Weapons Convention. It is the only obstacle in the way of establishing a zone free from weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. Indeed, nuclear weapons in the hands of this regime pose the most serious threat to the security of all States in the Middle East and to the global non-proliferation regime for which the Security Council is primarily responsible.

The Israeli regime has flagrantly violated at least 86 resolutions adopted by the Security Council in response to its repeated acts of aggression and illegal occupation, as well as its well-documented atrocities, apartheid policies and war crimes against the Palestinian people, starting from resolution 54 (1948) and so far, ending with resolution 2334 (2016) on illegal settlement activities. This regime enjoys total impunity.

 The tragedy in Khan Sheikhon took place after the Government of Syria was verifiably disarmed from all Chemical weapons by the UN, while ISIS and Al Nusrah were not. US military action against Syria happened without any independent or UN verification. This attack was a clear act of aggression against a UN member State and violation of the UN Charter and international law.

Such pointless misadventures only serve to send a clear and catastrophic message to the terrorists, namely: "repeat your atrocities such as the one on 4 April and you will be rewarded with US retaliation." They did it again in Rashidin on April 15, during which at least 126 people were killed, many of them children. Where is the accountability for the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these shameful acts? These acts kill the innocent but also play spoiler to the Astana process.

The world in general, and the Middle East in particular, is still paying for catastrophic unilateralism of the past premised on self-serving allegations. The world should not forget the events and allegations of WMDs in, 2003 and its ramifications, including the formation of Daesh, that continue to burden the world today and has helped the terrorists and destabilizing the whole Region. Surprisingly enough, those who destabilized the region and helped the emergence of terrorist groups now are bashing Iran that has played great role in containing and combating such global terror networks.

Those familiar with history know well that peace cannot be sustained without justice.  Proudly Introducing a  “sheriff approach”  to the work of the U N means leaning on destructive power as the only option , this would lead to nowhere but a continued cycle of violence.

Accepting such a reckless and dangerous approach will endanger all founding principles of the UN, multilateral diplomacy and its undeniable achievements for humanity and the international community, one by one, sooner or later.

I Thank You.