Statement by

H. E. Dr. M. Javad Zarif

Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

before the Security Council

on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question

New York, 23 March 2004

…………………………………

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Mr. President,

Let me begin by congratulating you for assuming the presidency of the Council this month and thank you for having convened this public meeting on the grave situation in the occupied Palestinian territory. I shouldn't fail to express my appreciation to the Ambassador of China for his able and effective conduct of the work of the Security Council in the month of February.

Mr. President;

Once more, the Council is convened to debate yet another atrocious crime perpetrated by a regime that has tried to continue its illegal occupation by resorting to state terrorism ad war crimes against the people under its brutal control; a people who I turn have been left with no option other than resistance. In their latest cowardly act of state terrorism, the Israeli forces cold-bloodedly murdered Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, an elderly, spiritual leader confined to a wheelchair. The real reason that brought them to commit such a cruelty was only the fact that the sheikh was an inspiration for the resistance against occupation. He was neither involved in nor in control of the resistance; a phenomenon that is caused by the occupation itself and not by any individual or group.

Israel, especially the head of the Israeli regime who publicly boasted about planning this crime and having it carried out under his personal command registered on their record yet another case of serious violation of the 4^th Geneva Convention, amounting to another war crime. But in doing so, they once more made clear that in fact they have never been prepared for any peace in the region, for the fear that any peace would presuppose the restoration of the basic rights of the Palestinians. Intent on committing this crime and preparing for it, there is no way that they didn’t know its consequences. There is no way they didn’t know that this would be the onset of a new cycle of violence of the kind they repeatedly, and indeed intentionally, provoked in the course of the past several years.

Mr. President,

In the aftermath of the barbaric terrorist act in Madrid and at a time when the international community needs to pull together with a view to effectively combating global terrorism, the Israeli occupation and the criminal acts to support it, including extrajudicial killings, undermine the rule of law and cooperation among nations which are sine qua none in fighting terrorism. There is no doubt that what Israel did and avowed to keep doing in the future was a bonanza for the terrorists like those that perpetrated the Madrid act, enabling them unfortunately to grow further.

Extrajudicial killings and targeted assassinations, coupled with other Israeli war crimes and acts of state terrorism such as the construction of the expansionist Wall, the wanton destruction of homes, infrastructure and agricultural lands, the detention and imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians, and the imposition of collective punishment on the entire Palestinian population would have the only result of rendering the situation in the region more tense and explosive.

Mr. President,

The assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin is a flagrant crime, which has created more instability and may plunge the region into another round of violence. It was a deliberate attempt to torpedo any attempt to bring peace to the region. While strongly condemning this latest Israeli criminal act, we believe that there is an absolute need for the international community to heavily weigh in and prevent Israel from carrying out its nefarious designs against Palestinians, which will further jeopardize peace and security in the whole region. This Council, especially, shoulders the heaviest responsibility and should act with a view to preventing Israel from continuing to flout the will of the international community incorporated in numerous UN resolutions.

Therefore, it is very sad that this Council could not reach an agreement on the text of a presidential statement, condemning the Israeli crime for only one delegation preventing the Council to pronounce itself on such an important issue relating to international peace and security in one of the most important and sensitive regions. We hope that all members of the Council recognize the need for taking decisive action in the face of the new tension in the region and do not choose to allow further paralysis of the Council and erosion of its authority as a result of failing to address the grave situation created in the wake of the assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.

Thank you Mr. President.