Statement by

H. E. Dr. Javad Zarif

Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran

before the Security Council

on “the situation between Iraq and Kuwait”

New York, 18 February 17, 2003

…………………………………

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Mr. President,

I wish to begin by expressing my delight to see you presiding over the work of the Council this month at a critical period in the history of the United Nations. I would like also to express my appreciation to Ambassador … of France for the dynamic and productive way he conducted the work of the Council in January. I trust that the French and German presidencies over the Council in January and February have been a source of reassurances for the general membership of the United Nations.

Mr. President,

Given the high stakes involved, my country, as one of Iraq’s neighbors, follows attentively the situation with respect to Iraq and its disarmament obligations under Security Council resolutions. On the one hand, we directly experienced the horror of becoming the victim of an all-out aggression and massive use of chemical weapons in the 80’s. Today, 15 years after the end of the war, the wounds are yet to be healed. Tens of thousands of the chemically wounded civilians and soldiers, who survived the horror, continue to live an agonizing and excruciating life, and hardly a week goes by without one or several of them dying as a result. Therefore, we have an unparalleled interest in ensuring that never again in our neighborhood there will be an aggression or the use of weapons of mass destruction.

On the other hand, the prospect of another destabilizing war in our immediate vicinity is a nightmare scenario of death and destruction. The Iranian people and Government are first and foremost concerned about the humanitarian catastrophe that would undoubtedly befall the Iraqi people in the event of a war, let alone the influx of displaced persons within Iraq and refugees across the borders and the humanitarian crisis that would ensue and spill over into neighboring countries. The further destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure in the course of yet another devastating war, taking the Iraqi nation back for decades, would undoubtedly be one of the fallouts of the war, no matter how the invading party plans to conduct it.

The extent of destabilization in the region and uncertainty in Iraq in the case of a war may go far beyond our imagination today. Given the state of the Iraqi society and the whole region, there are so many wild cards and no party could fit them beforehand into its calculations with any degree of certainty. But one outcome is almost certain: extremism stands to benefit enormously from an uncalculated adventure in Iraq. The prospect of appointing a foreign military commander to run an Islamic and Arab country is all the more destabilizing, and only indicative of the delusions the planners are entrapped by.

Mr. President,

Having all the above in mind, every effort should be made to achieve the collective demand of the international community for disarmament of Iraq, adopted unanimously by this Council in resolution 1441, without recourse to armed force. Under the current circumstances and with a devastating war in the offing, it is all the more incumbent upon Iraqi leadership to fully and proactively cooperate with the weapons inspectors, especially on substance as the inspectors have repeatedly called for.

Likewise, we do not see any reason for the rush-to-war rhetoric. We agree that resolution 1441 is about disarmament and not inspections. But we believe that while the chief inspectors are talking of some progress and signaling their intent to continue to work, there is no ground for aborting the process and embarking on military action with all its known and unknown devastating consequences. We further believe that strengthening of the inspection regime by providing it with additional inspectors and equipment cannot be readily discarded by a rush to war. We thus express our full support to the efforts of members of the Council and the proposal of France to strengthen the inspection system.

Mr. President,

For months, we have heard repeatedly that the United Nations should show “backbone and courage” or become “an irrelevant talking society”. While we fully agree with the need for effectiveness of the United Nations as the sole universal organization, we cannot accept that the priorities of one power could provide the criteria for the effectiveness and relevance of the United Nations.

We need not recall that dozens of Security Council resolutions explicitly demanding an end to Israeli occupation of Arab lands are dead letters not for weeks or years but for decades. Nor do we need to name the only major power that has enabled Israel to contemptuously flout the will of the international community.

The same dubious track record applies to weapons of mass destruction. The international regime governing the prohibitions of weapons of mass destruction has enormously suffered from the application of self-serving and arbitrary criteria, condoning and even encouraging friends of the day on the path of acquiring such weapons. The provision of chemical precursors and biological agents to Iraq in the 80’s, which is widely documented and lies at the origin of the current crisis, is a brazen example in this respect. Condoning Israel’s nuclear arsenal and precluding the realization of the repeated demands of the General Assembly and even this Council to establish a zone free from weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East is another illustrative case.

Against this backdrop, it is difficult to accept such arguments about effectiveness of the UN or the repeated claims to moral clarity.

Mr. President,

We believe that what is at stake today goes far beyond the mere disarmament of Iraq. The rush-to-war rhetoric is not coming out of a vacuum. Neither is the anxiety in the international community a hyperbole. We are approaching the peak of a trend, which includes preemptive strikes and the use of tactical nuclear weapons against non-nuclear States.

What we witnessed last Friday here in this Chamber and, more importantly, what followed the day after across the globe were clear expressions of concern and alarm over a trend which willingly or otherwise is undermining not only the international consensus to eradicate Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction but in fact the very institution and norms that have been instrumental in forging that consensus and in maintaining international peace and security in general.

The powerful may find respect for the rule of law and principles of inter-state behavior unnecessary diplomatic niceties or even cumbersome. But it is these very cumbersome principles and institutions that will become immensely important once today’s power balance and patterns of friendship fade.

Thank you Mr. President.