Above photo: Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran/AP.
The Iranian foreign minister made the comments at the UN ahead of a General Assembly vote Friday for a ceasefire.
From Consortium News: The United Nations General Assembly began a debate on Thursday on “Illegal Israeli Actions in the Occupied Territory.”
Full comments from the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs (transcribed by Popular Resistance):
The world knows that the Islamic Republic of Iran plays the most constructive role in helping peace and security, as well as fighting terrorism and ISIS.
Mr. President, it has been three weeks that we have been witness to the war crimes and genocide of the occupying Israeli regime in Gaza and the West Bank of Palestine. The United States and several European countries have sided with the occupying regime of Israel without observing the UN Charter and international law. They call the Palestinian liberation movement a terrorist, which has the right to self defense and self determination, but they refer to the occupying and war criminal regime that is committing genocide in Gaza as having the right to self defense. Unfortunately, this is the state of our world today.
This is the situation of the Security Council, which was supposed to try to establish world peace and security. Today, United States and several European countries are watching and supporting the killing of about 7,000 civilians in less than three weeks by the Israeli regime in Gaza and the West Bank of Palestine. And they help this regime militarily and financially.
We recommend the United States to vote for peace and security, not war against the people, children and women. Instead of sending rockets, tanks and bombs to be used against Gaza, the United States should stop supporting genocide in Gaza and Palestine.
Mr. President, the history of Iranian civilization shows that we have always supported peace and security, but today in New York and the United Nations, I say frankly to the American statesmen who are now managing the genocide in Palestine that we do not welcome expansion of the war in the region but if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire. It is our home and West Asia is our region. We do not compromise with any party and any side and we have no reservation when it comes to our home security.
The genocide in Gaza must stop immediately. The forced displacement of the people of Gaza must be stopped immediately. Today Gaza is waiting for necessary and vital humanitarian aid. According to international law, the Palestinian liberation movement, Hamas, is fighting the occupation and has a legitimate right.
Mr. President, according to our negotiations, Hamas is ready to release civilian prisoners. On the other hand, the world should support the release of 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
(Now, the foreign minister switches to speaking in the Persian language with translation)
Mr. President, according to history and based on documents of the United Nations, the Palestinian issue has a history of about 80 years. Therefore, trying to reduce its dimensions to just one attack and of a Palestinian liberation group is a big lie. According to the international law, as well as hundreds of resolutions of this very same assembly, the entire land of Palestine is an occupied land and according to this, the Zionist regime is recognized as an aggressor and an occupier. The Palestinian nation, like any other nation under occupation, has the indisputable and inherent right of self-determination and has the right to directly and freely decide on its independence and to create an independent government to decide for itself according to international law. And as specified by Security Council resolutions number 309 and 323 of 1972 of the Security Council, in the case of Namibia, the inalienable right to self-determination and independence is permanent and does not disappear with the passage of time. Therefore, just as the prolonged occupation of the land does not create any rights for the occupier, the passage of time does not diminish in the slightest way the rights to determine the fate of the occupied nation.
According to the principles and the rules of international law and hundreds of resolutions of this very same assembly, the Palestinian nation as a nation under occupation has the legitimate right to resist the occupation using all available methods including armed struggle. Therefore, the recent hypocritical efforts to introduce the struggle of the Palestinian nation against the occupiers as terrorist actions will not deceive the free nations and the awakened consciences of the world
The United States of America, as the unwavering and permanent supporter of the occupying regime is the main cause of the failures of the United Nations, especially the Security Council, in upholding the rights of the Palestinians. The country has for dozens of times prevented the Security Council from fulfilling its duties in this field.
Mr. President, we believe that the complete and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue is only possible through the full realization of the inalienable right of this nation to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in all of the Palestinian territories and with ?? as its capital. The entire land of Palestine from the sea to the river belongs only to the original Palestinians, including Christians, Jews and Muslims. And no institution or country has the right or can give any part of this land to another person or group.
The Islamic Republic of Iran believes in the right of Palestine to resist against occupation has offered a political and democratic initiative, which includes the holding of a referendum for self-determination amongst original residents of Palestine, including Jews, Christians and Muslims, which has been registered by the UN as well.
The essence and nature of the Zionist regime is based on aggression, occupation, crime, lies and deceptions. So far, this regime has launched more than twenty wars in the region, invaded without any exception all its neighbors, attacked a number of countries outside its immediate region and neighborhood, and it still occupies the territory of some other Arab countries in addition to Palestine.
It has committed all the four international crimes, namely aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, not once but many times. And in some cases, all four crimes simultaneously. And to advance his illegitimate goals, it has failed to adhere to any humane principles or legal rules.
Ladies and gentleman, we must see reality as it is. And the reality is that brutal occupation has transformed into brutal and deep apartheid. It is this terrible combination of chronic occupation and deep apartheid that gives the occupying regime the psychological permission to butcher and mass kill the people under occupation. Therefore, now is the time to consider the real face of this regime and see it as it is, as the General Assembly did in 1975 through resolution number 3379 by identifying Zionism apartheid and racism.
Mr. President, I would like to emphasize that the recent action of the Palestinian nation as well as the action of the liberation organization, Hamas, against the occupiers according to the applicable rules of the international law is completely legitimate and inherent right and attributing any other title to it is absolutely illegal and unacceptable. Claims of the right of the so-called legitimate defense should be granted to the occupying regime is also a very ridiculous joke. It is certainly not possible to change the places of the killer and the victim by misusing some expressions.
The Al Aqsa Storm Operation is just a reaction to the continuation of occupation and the aggressions against the Palestinians and in response to the widespread crimes of the Zionist regime in recent months. In fact, this operation was the volcanic eruption of the concentrated anger of the entire Palestinian nation against 75 years of continuous and widespread crimes by the Zionist regime, especially in recent months by the Netanyahu government.
According to international law, resisting aggression and occupation, including by armed means, is an inherent and legitimate right of any nation, including the Palestinian nation, and it does not require the permission or order of any county or institution to exercise it. The place and how to exercise this right is based on the recognized international law. Those who repeatedly speak about a necessity of avoidance of an expansion of this conflict, and of course the Islamic Republic of Iran, we have never been after the expansion or the spread of war and we will never be supporting it, but if, in the truest sense of the word, they don’t want this war to spread out, they need to pressure the Zionist regime to fully and immediately stop the war crimes of the Israeli regime.
Recent statements of the official and military authorities of the Zionist regime and its actions in Gaza prove that the killing of more than 7,000 civilians, of which more than 62% are children and women, and the wounding and maiming of more than 17,000 civilians, completely cutting off water, electricity, fuel, food and medicine to a population of several million and preventing any effective assistance to them and brutally and extensively destroying residential places, mosques, churches, hospitals and infrastructure facilities have been carried out completely deliberately and with an intent of revenge and collective punishment, which are explicitly prohibited under international law and leave no room for doubt that these actions are a clear violation of international law and a clear example of the crime of aggression and war crimes and also crimes against humanity and genocide.
Mr. President, ladies and gentleman, the actions of the United States too, which directly participates in this battle through financial and armed support, as well as direct military action and effective political support are a clear of the charter and international legal obligations of that country. And, as a result, hold it internationally responsible.
In addition, why the United States is itself actually and in practice and directly involved in committing crimes against Palestinians, it is not in a position to invite others to exercise self-restraint and refrain from spreading the war. Therefore, we strongly warn against uncontrollable consequences of the unlimited financial, arms and operational supports by the White House to the Tel Aviv regime, which have led to the expansion, and added to the severity of the bombardments of the civilians and the Palestinian women and children in Gaza and the West Bank.
The current developments in Palestine also clearly prove that the only result of any normalization of relations with Tel Aviv is tantamount to ignoring the legitimate and historical rights of the Palestinian nation. But any kind of normalization of ties with the Israeli regime is doomed to failure.
Preventing the escalation of the Palestinian situation, especially considering the current turbulent and tumultuous conditions in different regions of the world is a global and collective responsibility. We, on our part, are ready to play a more serious role in this field in line with our recent efforts in order to restore peace and security in West Asia. In this line, the leaders of the Hamas liberation Palestinian movement have voiced their readiness to release the non-military prisoners to us and the Islamic Republic of Iran stands ready to play its part in this very important humanitarian endeavor along with Qatar and Turkiye. Naturally the release of the 6,000 Palestinian prisoners is another necessity and responsibility of the global community.
Mr. President, in conclusion, I would like to thank the positive and realistic positions of the UN Secretary General, his excellency Antonio Guterres, and his efforts on the ground for sending humanitarian aid to Gaza and immediately stopping the war. I would like to emphasize that it is expected from the United Nations to employ a strong terminology and under the seventh chapter of the United Nations Charter, force the Zionist regime to immediately stop its war crimes, genocide and the mass killing of civilians and provide other grounds for the full realization of the Palestinian nation’s right to self-determination. This is of course the inherent duty and obligation of the United Nations, which has been delayed for decades for the aforesaid reasons.
Now, we all expect the current meeting of the General Assembly that has been held to delve into the Gaza and Palestinian crisis to pass a strong resolution, which is effective and influential, by the General Assembly of the UN that will lead to the immediate stop of war crimes against Gaza and the lifting of the human blockade and the extensive sending of humanitarian aid and a stop to the forced displacement of the residents of Gaza. Thank you.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has arrived in New York to attend an emergency session of the UN General Assembly on 26 October, as diplomatic activity surrounding Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza and the horrific death toll among Palestinians intensifies.
Thursday’s session is devoted to the topic of “illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” and comes ahead of a planned General Assembly vote Friday on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the now 19-day war between the Hamas-led Palestinian resistance and Israel.
Amir-Abdollahian said during the session that, “I say frankly to the Americans, who are now managing the war in Gaza, that we do not want the expansion of war into the region. But if the genocide in Gaza continues, they [America] will not be spared from the fire. This is our home, and West Asia is our region. We do not compromise with any party or any side, and we have no reservation when it comes to our home security.”
Israel’s bombing campaign has targeted civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including residential apartment buildings, hospitals, UN schools, and markets. Israel has killed over 7,000 Palestinians and almost 3,000 children, according to the Gaza health ministry.
On Wednesday, the UN security council failed to pass resolutions from both the US and Russia regarding the conflict.
Speaking to Iranian state media outlet IRNA News, Amir-Abdollahian confirmed Iran’s role in ensuring that the US resolution, which would have reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself, failed to pass.
“The work of Iran’s representative in the United Nations helped ensure that the US’s resolution be accompanied by vetoes from China and Russia,” he said.
“There were consultations in Tehran two nights ago with [Russian Foreign Minister] Mr. Lavrov in this regard. Consultations were also held with China, but my colleagues and the honorable ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani in New York worked hard to ensure that this resolution doesn’t come to fruition with one-sided content.”
Amir-Abdollahian argued the US draft resolution did not ensure peace, security, and stability in the region.
During Wednesday’s meeting ahead of the vote, Russia and China called the US resolution a license for Israel to go through with plans for a Gaza ground invasion.
During his visit, the Iranian foreign minister is expected to meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss Iran’s position on the war, telling IRNA News that “the support that the United States and a few European countries blindly but wholeheartedly provide to the Zionist regime has reached a worrying point for all the countries in the region.”
Israeli diplomats have called for Guterres to resign following his remarks pointing to Israel’s now 75-year occupation of the West Bank and 17-year blockade of Gaza as the source of the most recent war between the two sides. The 7 October Hamas surprise attack on Israel, in which 1,400 Israelis were killed during the battles, “did not come out of a vacuum,” the UN chief said.