Mohammad Javad Zarif addressed a meeting in Foreign Ministry held to celebrate 70th anniversary of establishment of the UN on Saturday, after which he responded to press questions about recent resolution approved in the UN against what had been said was Iran’s violation of human rights; “some countries who have fueled the fire of the ISIL in the region for years, now have trespassed into new territories allowing them to prepare a human rights resolution without any positive advantage on the very human rights; all those countries with undemocratic means of grasping power who do not know elections, would talk about ‘free elections’ in Syria; and those who support ISIL, would raise doubts about [our] methods of fighting the terrorist group, and their resolution is approved for obvious reasons,” Zarif told the press.
“After 70 years, what could be expected from the UN,” Zarif asked rhetorically, “is it possible to speak about a better and more responsible UN which could play a positive role in the face of current challenges? The principle of non-interference, avoiding the use of force against smaller countries, and the principle of equality of state sovereignties are crucial to the UN, and in no case would the UN violate these sacrosanct principles to deal with the emergent occasions, otherwise, it would fall short of the qualities which effectively make it ‘united nations,’ bestowing it with a new identity,” Zarif argued.
Zarif highlighted the current transitional and very volatile era; “we are now in an era where a terrorist non-state actor could actually deprive the international community from security, posing grave security issues for even great hegemonic powers; in any understanding of the international issue, we should know that the players have become multiple, and that the UN would not decide with effectively setting aside other new players. It should work to manage international developments in the framework informed by its principles,” he demanded.
“The UN principles are universally agreed by all countries and are not subject to change; these principles would incite a global alliance against any issue of global dimensions; instead, the view of the developments should be drastically changed,” Zarif told the press. “Security is not limited to borders and security of one nation should not be to the expense of security of others; today, French public have well come to this understanding that fight against ISIL is a grave priority, since its threat is not limited to specific region or country,” he added.
“A recurrent threat is error of judgement by interacting players whose number has risen in the transition phase; this is a miscalculation which would bring many countries to the brink of collapse,” Zarif warned.
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