Countries’ right to self-defense must be recognized

Majid Takht-Ravanchi made the remarks in an address to the General Assembly’s Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Conventional Ammunition on Monday.

“...We believe that conventional ammunition should be handled with caution, taking into account the legitimate needs and concerns of member states, including the need to address their national security concerns,” he said.

Iran’s UN envoy added, “The elaboration of any framework to manage the conventional ammunition ... must not jeopardize the legitimate rights of all states to the inherent right to individual or collective self-defense.”

“This inherent right should encompass the right of each state to manufacture, import, and retain the non-prohibited weapons and ammunition for self-defense and security purposes,” Takht-Ravanchi noted, warning that “criminal groups and terrorist organizations must be denied access to these weapons.”

“The final document of the OEWG should reflect its voluntary and nonbinding nature while encompassing various positions of the member states,” Iran’s ambassador said, emphasizing, “The outcome document should reaffirm the state's inherent right to individual or collective self-defense.”

Takht-Ravanchi noted that “it is the sovereign prerogative of Member States to decide, oversee, and manage the safety and security of their conventional ammunition.”

ZZ/PressTV