TEHRAN - The Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations has hit out at U.S. President Donald Trump’s “idiotic” terror accusations, saying Tehran has been the biggest victim and strongest enemy of terrorism in the region, Press TV reported.

The strong reaction by Majid Takht-Ravanchi came after Trump on Thursday called Iran “a nation of terror” despite his earlier patronizing messages to the Iranian people, Tasnim reported.

“The U.S. president's contradictory words about Iran clearly show his endless hostility toward Iran and the great Iranian nation,” Takht-Ravanchi said.

“These idiotic remarks, more than anything, show [Trump's] ignorance of thousands of years of the Iranian history, and a lack of knowledge about the country,” the diplomat added.

Takht-Ravanchi also criticized the silence of the United Nations and the Security Council on crimes against civilians, saying that the political considerations should be avoided to protect civilians in the clashes.

The Iranian diplomat said that there are numerous cases in which the United Nations, in particular the Security Council, has been silenced on crimes against civilians in armed conflicts, according to IRNA.

The envoy emphasized that one of the main problems in protecting civilians in armed conflicts is to make decisions based on political considerations and not identifying the perpetrators of the crimes.

The senior diplomat noted some of these cases, including U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan and Saudi air strikes in Yemen, which resulted in the deaths and injuries of a large number of civilians, including women and children.

He also referenced to the deaths of more than 280 people and the wounding of more than 32,000 Gazan protesters by the Zionist regime’s forces last year, saying that silence was the only response by the Security Council to these crimes.

SP/PA