“The US’ cowardly assassination of Lt. Gen. Ghasem Soleimani and his companions was a terrible blow to regional peace and security, and a mockery of the principles of human civilization and a blatant violation of norms and the international law,” Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva, made the remark in his address to the UN Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Switzerland.
The Iranian ambassador said violence, chaos, terror, instability, insecurity and division among regional countries were the result of the presence of US forces in the region and recalled the full responsibility of the United States for the consequences of its militaristic and destructive policy against Iran and other countries in the region.
He stressed that the silence over the assassination of a senior military official during a formal visit to another independent state was a factor in making these criminals all the more ruthless and impudent for committing similar crimes.
Baghaei then maintained that clandestine assassinations, sabotage, and coups have been a permanent part of the US policy in the region for the past hundred years, but stressed that the public assassination of an official and taking pride in the crime was an unprecedented move that signifies the demise of civilization and morality in the American governing body.
The Iranian envoy further called for an international response to prevent the normalization of such crimes, warning of the catastrophic consequences of US’ acts of terrorism for international law and ethics.
MNA/4832026