UN Security Council rebuffs the U.S. over Iran protests

January 6, 2018 - 13:1

The United Nations Security Council rebuffed the United States to use the protests in Iran as an excuse to undermine the nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

On Friday, the U.S. ironically called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to address the demonstrations in Iran that began on December 28 and subsided after a few days. The U.S. tried to use the protests as a pretext to make attacks against the UN-endorsed nuclear agreement.

The UNSC rebuffed the US' naked attempt to hijack its mandate. Majority emphasized the need to fully implement the JCPOA and to refrain from interfering in internal affairs of others. Another FP blunder for the Trump administration,” Zarif tweeted on Saturday.

Russia said the United States is exploiting the protests in Iran in order to derail the landmark nuclear deal.

"The United States is abusing the platform of the Security Council. Let Iran deal with its own problems," said Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the UN.

"The real reason for convening today is not protect human rights or promote the interests of the Iranian people, but rather a veiled attempt to continue to undermine the Iranian nuclear agreement," Nebezia stated.

The French diplomat says, "We must be wary of any attempts to exploit this crisis (protests in Iran) for personal ends, which would have the diametrically opposed outcome to that which is wished."Envoys from several other countries - from China to newcomer Equatorial Guinea - also expressed reservations about whether the council was the right forum for the issue.

According to Al-Jazeera, Nebenzia said if the UN Security Council followed the reasoning behind convening the meeting over domestic protests in Iran, it should have met after demonstrations in the U.S. following the killing of African-American teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer in the state of Missouri in 2014. 

France's ambassador to the United Nations told the Security Council the protests in Iran did not require a meeting before the international body.

"However worrying the events of the last few days in Iran may be they do not constitute per se a threat to international peace and security," Ambassador Francois Delattre said.

The French diplomat said, "We must be wary of any attempts to exploit this crisis for personal ends, which would have the diametrically opposed outcome to that which is wished."

Iranian Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo said the United States had abused its power as a permanent member of the Security Council by calling the emergency meeting.

"It is unfortunate that despite the resistance on the part of some of its members, this council has allowed itself to be abused by the current U.S. administration in holding a meeting on an issue that falls outside the scope of its mandate," said Khoshroo.

He added his government has "hard evidence" the recent protests in Iran were "very clearly directed from abroad".

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, argued the demonstrations were a human rights issue that could spiral into an international problem.

"The Iranian regime is now on notice. The world will be watching what you do," Haley said.

The UN charter empowers to the council to "investigate any dispute, or any situation which might lead to international friction", she claimed.

PA/PA