Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani, told the UN General Assembly that the world has a binding legal and moral duty to prevent and punish genocide wherever it occurs. Speaking at the session marking the 10th anniversary of the “International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide,” he said Iran remains fully committed to combating and preventing genocide.
Iravani emphasized that the international community must honor the dignity of all victims whose suffering compels nations to act with clarity and moral resolve. Preventing genocide, he said, is not merely an aspirational goal but a binding obligation under international law.
He reiterated that all UN member states share a universal responsibility to prevent and punish genocide and must refrain from providing any form of assistance to its commission. The prohibition of genocide, he noted, is a peremptory norm of international law that no state may ignore or apply selectively. Justice, he warned, must be pursued relentlessly, as impunity only fuels further atrocities.
Iravani praised the work of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which has issued deeply alarming findings regarding actions by the Israeli regime in Gaza that meet the threshold of genocide.
He stated that Israel has repeatedly violated international humanitarian law and human rights, with UN mechanisms documenting these violations extensively. The International Court of Justice, he said, has described events in Gaza as genocide in its advisory opinion, citing mass killings, severe harm, starvation under blockade, systematic destruction of health and education systems, sexual violence, torture, deliberate targeting of women and children, large-scale strikes on cultural and religious sites, and obstruction of humanitarian aid.
“These crimes cannot be justified, minimized, or concealed,” Iravani declared, calling out Western media outlets for using dehumanizing language that helps legitimize Israel’s actions.
He also referred to the findings of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who reported that several Western governments have facilitated, legitimized, or normalized Israel’s actions while hiding behind diplomacy, effectively reinforcing colonial narratives and distorting international law.
“Genocide cannot be erased by silence,” he said. “The suffering of the victims must strengthen our collective resolve to end this crime once and for all.”
Iravani concluded that the United Nations must show genuine moral leadership—not only through commemorations, but through decisive action by its member states—to end the genocide and uphold the dignity of its victims.
MNA/6683907
Your Comment