Iran's UN Ambassador Condemns U.S. Strikes As A 'Flagrant Breach Of International Law'

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Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amir-Saeid Iravani addressed an emergency meeting of the Security Council after the United States struck nuclear sites in Iran.

Transcript

00:00Thank you. In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful, thank you, Madam President,

00:05for your valuable effort to promptly convening this emergency meeting in your capacity as the

00:11President of the Security Council. We welcome the presence of Secretary General at this meeting,

00:19and we also listen to the statement made by the ASG, Mr. Jenka. We appreciate all those members

00:28who have chosen to stand on the right side of history, and thus strongly condemned the act of

00:35aggression of the United States and the Israeli regime against my country. Madam President,

00:42I address this council today for the third time since the brutal aggression against my country,

00:49first by the Israeli regime on June 13, and now by the United States. I speak with

00:56utmost urgency and grave concern on behalf of our people, a peace-loving nation of nearly 100 million

01:05people. Today, another stain was recorded in the political history of the United States.

01:14After the illegitimate Israeli regime failed to do the worst dirty work, Trump was forced

01:21in the early hours of Sunday, June 22, to personally carry out the most sordid part of this vile agenda.

01:32Once again, the internationally wanted war criminal Netanyahu succeeded in hijacking U.S. foreign policy,

01:41dragging the United States into yet another costly, baseless war.

01:46America has once more recklessly chosen to sacrifice its own security merely to safeguard Netanyahu.

01:57Once again, the world has witnessed the blatant corruption of the U.S. political system and its leaders.

02:04As an independent peace-seeking nation, the Islamic Republic of Iran had repeatedly warned the war-mongering U.S. regime

02:14to refrain from stumbling into this quagmire, even though Iran reserved its full and legitimate right

02:23under international law to defend itself against this blatant U.S. aggression and its Israeli proxy.

02:31The timing, nature, and the scale of Iran's proportionate response will be decided by its armed forces.

02:42Throughout history, the resilient and united Iranian nation has withstood deeper wounded

02:48and faced more vicious enemies, and this time, too.

02:53It will show its dignity, strength, and greatness to the world.

03:01Over the past ten days, the Israeli barbaric assault, the international bodies, including the U.N. Security Council

03:08and the International Atomic Energy Agency have been provided with all the necessary information and warning.

03:16Yet, they have proven once again that the so-called eight decades long quest to prevent war and aggression is hollow

03:25and powerless in practice.

03:28Madam President, the Israeli will not forget these tragic days.

03:35It is profoundly heartbreaking that a peace-loving country, one of the founders of the United Nations

03:43with over 5,000 years of culture and civilization, responsible party to the U.N. Charter and the MPT,

03:50a non-nuclear weapon state, has been under armed attack by an illegitimate regime,

03:57no, by its chief backer, the United States, but poses thousands of nuclear warheads.

04:06The United States, a permanent member of this council, the depository of the NPT,

04:12and the only state that has ever used nuclear weapons, murdering millions in two cities,

04:19has now once again distorted to illegal force, waged a war against my country,

04:27under a fabricated and absurd pretext preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

04:34What a bitter and tragic irony.

04:36Madam President, this U.S. and Israeli regime of aggression is a clear and fragrant breach of international law.

04:46It breaches the preliminary norms of prohibition of aggression and the very fundamental principles enshrined

04:54in the U.N. Charter, namely Article 2.4, which categorically prohibits the threat or use of force

05:01against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of any member states.

05:06This illegal act also violates the Charter, the Statute of the IEA,

05:11the 11th resolution of the Agency General Conference, Security Council Resolution 487, and 2231,

05:19as well as the NPT itself.

05:22Colleagues, while the representative of the United States continues to make baseless accusation against Iran,

05:29the international community is well aware of the well-documented and dark record of military intervention,

05:37illegal use of force against other sovereign states,

05:41and sponsorship of terrorism by the United States in the Middle East and across the world.

05:47The facts speak for themselves.

05:50All U.S. allegations against Iran are of unfunded, with no legal basis, and politically motivated.

05:57One clear example is the horrific and covertly assassination of Martyr Major General Qasem Soleimani and his companions.

06:09He was covertly and deliberately assassinated while visiting Iraq at the formal request of the Iraqi government.

06:16This crime carried out by the U.S. forces on direct order of the then President of the United States,

06:25who yesterday again claimed responsibility for such a heinous crime.

06:32Major General Soleimani remains a hero for our people and the nation in the region for countering terrorist group,

06:39in particular, Daesh.

06:41Madam President, from its illegal invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan to its catastrophic intervention to Libya,

06:50the United States had ignored the U.N. Charter,

06:54shattered entire societies and destabilized the region for decades.

07:00The people of these countries continue to pay the price for these reckless policies.

07:05Madam President,

07:08the Israeli attack on June 13 and the U.S. aerial strike on June 21 did not occur in vacuum.

07:17They are a direct result of the illegal and politically motivated actions of the United States and its European partners,

07:25the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, as well as biased conduct of the IEA Director General.

07:33Undoubtedly, the United States, the U.K. and France, three permanent members of this Council,

07:39along with the Israeli regime and the IEA General Director,

07:43will bear full responsibility for the death of innocent civilians in Iran,

07:48especially women and children, and for destruction of vital civilian infrastructure.

07:56Madam President, Iran was preparing for the next round of diplomatic engagement with the United States on June 15,

08:04only for Israeli to strike Iran two days before those talks could take place.

08:10In fact, the Israeli decided to destroy diplomacy.

08:14The so-called offer of diplomacy was nothing more than a decideful policy to mislead the international community.

08:24This week, as our foreign minister held talks with the E3, European terrorica, and the European Union,

08:33the United States decided to destroy the diplomacy.

08:38What conclusion can be drawn from this situation?

08:41From the perspective of Western countries, Iran must return to the negotiation table?

08:49But as Iran's foreign minister mentioned, how can Iran return to something it never left alone?

08:57Madam President, the pattern is evident.

09:00The MPT, the cornerstone of non-proliferation regime, has been manipulated into a political weapon,

09:07in a state of granting parties' legitimate right to peaceful nuclear energy.

09:14It has been exploited as a pretext for aggression and unlawful action that jeopardized the supreme interest of my country.

09:24The selective double standards behavior of the IAA board and the Security Council turning a blind eye

09:31to Israeli past attack on Iraq's Osirak reactor.

09:34It assaults on Iran's nuclear sites under IAA safeguards,

09:40and its ongoing aggression is a moral, political, and legal disgrace.

09:46This shame will forever tarnish the credibility of these international bodies.

09:53With such blatant bias, there is no assurance that the other MPT member will not face similar aggression.

10:01Madam President, for more than two decades, Israeli and outlaw nuclear armed regime that refused to join the MPT,

10:12despite Security Council Resolution 487, has promoted the deceitful and false narrative

10:20that Iran is on the cusp of accruing nuclear weapon.

10:25While there has not been even one shred of evidence to substantiate such baseless allegation,

10:35Iran's consistent diplomatic engagement made in good faith, leading to the GCPOA,

10:41and its full compliance with the commitment they are in with the UN Security Council Resolution 2231,

10:49demonstrate the very peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

10:54Madam President, Iran is acting within its inherent and lawful right of self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

11:02We will take all measures deemed necessary at our disposal to protect our people,

11:10our sovereignty, territorial integrity, national and vital interests,

11:15and our peaceful nuclear program in accordance with international law.

11:19Once again, I would like to remind this esteemed body of its legal and moral obligation.

11:26If this Council and the United Nations built to maintain international peace and security

11:33fail to act at this decisive moment, they will forever lose their credibility and relevance.

11:42Israel and the United States are the chief culprits for eroding the rule of law,

11:49undermining international law, the IAS statute, and the non-proliferation regime.

11:54However, the silence, double standards, and complicity of international organization

12:00in some Western countries, including France and the UK, are equally reprehensible.

12:08The UN Security Council should immediately act on the Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter

12:14to redress such injustice and gross violation by strongly condemning the blatant aggression violation

12:23and heinous crimes committed against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

12:27Adopting effective enforcement action against the aggressor

12:31hold the United States and Israeli regime fully accountable,

12:36place the Israeli nuclear facilities under agency safeguard.

12:41This is a historic test for this Council, for the United Nations as a whole.

12:47Every state and every responsible actor must rise to this occasion and condemn without ambiguity.

12:55These blatant crimes failure to do so will lead to the gradual decline of the very aspiration

13:03of the non-proliferation regime and normalize a dangerous precedent

13:07when might, our rights, right, and where the fundamental principles of the UN Charter

13:14are trampled without consequences.

13:17Madam President, distinguished colleagues, we stand at the crossroads.

13:23Let us be the moment we put an end to impunity,

13:28the moment we uphold the principles on which this Council was founded.

13:34This Council must act decisively.

13:36Silence will be complicity in these crimes.

13:39If this Council fail to act and condemn this blatant aggression,

13:44the stain of complicity will forever remain on its conscience as it does with Gaza.

13:51I thank you.

13:52I thank the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran for his statement.

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