Iran condemns US ‘misrepresentation’ of UN chief report at UNSC

Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani, has sent a letter to the world body and the UN Security Council (UNSC) condemning US ambassador’s “misleading” representation of Secretary General’s report regarding the situation in West Asia.

In the letter published on Tuesday, Iravani wrote, “The representative of the United States made an unsubstantiated and misleading reference to the report of the Secretary General in a cynical attempt to attribute to the Islamic Republic of Iran the conduct that is neither reflected in, nor supported by, that report.”

The US ambassador falsely claimed that the Secretary General had "affirmed" Iran hides military hardware in hospitals, schools and civilian neighborhoods and uses civilians for propaganda purposes, Iravani added.

The report in question is a thematic report on the protection of civilians in armed conflicts which is a matter of global concern, said Iravani, explaining that there is no reference, explicit or implicit, to the Islamic Republic of Iran in the said context and therefore the statement made by the US ambassador constitutes a clear misrepresentation of an official UN document.

“Such irresponsible conduct, particularly on the part of a representative of a permanent member of the Security Council, raises serious legal and institutional concerns. Under Article 2(2) of the Charter of the United Nations, all Members are obliged to fulfil their obligations in good faith,” he asserted.

Iran emphasizes that any attempt to invoke the authority of the Secretary General in order to lend credibility to such claims constitutes a serious misuse of UN’S mechanisms for political purposes, Iravani stated.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran further underscores that the credibility of the Security Council and the authority of the Secretary General's reporting must be preserved against any attempt at distortion or politicization,” he concluded.

On February 28, the US and Israel initiated a large-scale, illegal and unprovoked war on Iran, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking military commanders.

They also killed hundreds of Iranian civilians in airstrikes on the country. Notable among the victims are more than 160 school children of the southern city of Minab.

In response, Iranian armed forces conducted 100 waves of decisive missile and drone operations against US and Israeli military assets across the region for over 40 days.

A two-week ceasefire was brokered on April 8, followed by negotiations in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, where Iran proposed a 10-point plan to permanently end the war.

Despite 21 hours of intensive discussions, the negotiations ended without an agreement, with Iran citing “excessive demands” from the US side.

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