Iran UN Envoy Calls On World Community to Check Afghan Crisis
Speaking at the open session of the UN Security Council on Tuesday in the United Nations, he said, "Stopping the Taleban fighting machine will take place only through preventing drug smuggling in Afghanistan."
Referring to the world community's efforts to change the Taleban's warmongering policies, he added, "By humiliating the world public opinion and to render the UN Resolution 1333 ineffective, the Taleban have violated all the norms and over the past years and continued their military operations in the past winter."
He also noted the Taleban's decision last November to stop negotiations under the UN supervision and the group's clear commitment was unacceptable. This was another example of the difference between their words and deeds, he said, adding that these military operations are taking place at a time when war and drought have hit Afghanistan in a human crisis.
Referring to a report issued by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as an important step to confront the group's war policies, the official said, the report shows the ways by which the Taleban receive financial and military aids. This, he added, is indicative of their carelessness of the world community's concerns as well as the UN Resolution 1333.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he referred to the recent decision of the Taleban leader to ban poppy cultivation and said, "The reason for making the decision is surely, not religious considerations, otherwise it would have been made sooner."
He also stated that most of neighboring countries of Afghanistan suffer from the war-related problems and are in dire need of the world community's aids, including educational assistance and equipment which have also been advised by the OCHA.
During the session, in addition to the Security Council members and the Iranian official, some representatives from 19 other countries delivered speeches and asked the world community to put the group under pressure.