In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the
Merciful
Mr. President,
I wish
to begin by congratulating you for assuming the presidency of the Council this
month and pay tribute to the Ambassador of Argentina and his colleagues for Argentina's
last month presidency of the Council.
Mr.
President,
The
Council is convened to debate another in a series of repeated and grave crimes perpetrated
by the Israeli regime against the Palestinian people in the occupied
Palestinian territories. Indeed, in the course of the past six decades,
Palestinians have been subjected to daily brutality by the Israeli regime. The
systematic pattern of violations of the most basic human rights of the
Palestinian people and massive breaches of international law and international
humanitarian law by Israel have continued unabated, resulting in the killing of
nearly 4000 Palestinians since September of 2000.
Recent military operations against
Palestinian civilians in the
Increased
military operations in densely populated areas especially in Gaza,
indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli army, the practice of collective
punishment, extrajudicial killings, targeted assassinations, expansion of
settlements and attack by Israeli forces on Jericho Prison, which happened only a few
minutes after American and British observers left the prison, are few examples
of breaches of basic international standards and law,
committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories. Moreover, in defiance of the
advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and the unambiguous
calls of the international community, the Israeli regime not only continues the
construction of the illegal wall in the
As eloquently stated
by the distinguished Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the
Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in the last month's meeting of the
Council, Israel has continued its unlawful activities in the occupied
territories aimed at undermining the prospects of establishing the Palestinian
State, and approximately 12,000 Israelis have established themselves in the
West Bank colonies in recent months, while only 9,000 have been evacuated from
Gaza and northern West Bank.
Mr. President,
The impunity with
which
The Security
Council, which has the primary responsibility to maintain international peace
and security, should live up to this immense duty by preventing Israel from
continuing to commit atrocities and flout the will of the international
community, incorporated in numerous UN resolutions. Regrettably, the Council
has thus far failed to take any serious and tangible action or even attempt to
implement its own modest and limited decisions on the Palestinian question, due
to the unconditional support extended to
Recognizing the
need for taking action in the face of the recent escalation of Israeli military
operations in the occupied territories, the Council should live up to its responsibilities
in fully and properly addressing the present situation that has clearly
heightened the crisis in the Middle East, thus undermining international peace
and security.
Mr.
President,
The Palestinian
Legislative Council elections which reflected the free will of the Palestinian
people in exercising their democratic rights, was a major milestone in the
history of Palestine and, indeed, a great accomplishment for which the
Palestinians should be congratulated and admired. This democratic choice
of the Palestinian people deserves to receive the respect and support of the
international community. The Israeli decision to halt the transfer of
taxes due to the Palestinians is nothing but blackmailing the Palestinian people
for exercising their democratic rights. Similarly, the withholding of aid to
the Palestinian Authority by certain countries amounts to punishment of the
Palestinians for exercising their basic rights in choosing their own
representatives. In fact, by taking such inadmissible punitive measures against
a nation, the principles of democracy and democratic choice of the people are
breached by those who often pretend to preach them.
Mr. President,
In the context of
Israel's defiance of the international community, particular reference should
be made to the infamous Israeli nuclear weapons program, which is a showcase of
five decades of concealment and deception and total disregard for the demand of
the international community, echoed in the NPT 2000 Review Conference, which by
name called upon it to accede to the NPT immediately and without any condition.
Nuclear weapons in the hands of a regime with an unparalleled record of state
terrorism and resort to aggression and the threat of force against other countries
presents a real threat to regional and global peace and security and the
non-proliferation regime. This threat needs to be urgently and decisively
addressed by the international community and the initiative for the creation of
a zone free from weapons of mass destruction in the
Mr. President,
The
question of
It is evident that achieving a peaceful
settlement of the question of
Finally, Mr. President,
I do not wish to take the time of this Council to
respond to the irresponsible claims of the Israeli representative. I should only like to point out that the
Islamic Republic of Iran has officially declared its commitment to the
fundamental principle of the Charter, to refrain from the threat or use of
force against any member of the United Nations.
The daily barrage of illegal threats to resort to force by officials of
the Israeli regime, the recent instances of which started in December of 2003
and have continued to date, requires urgent and serious attention by this
Council. At the very least, this Council
should demand that the Israeli regime abandon its policy of flouting
international law and the UN Charter and cease and desist immediately from
resorting to the threat or use of force.
Thank
you