Statement by

H.E. Dr. M. Javad Zarif

Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Before the General Assembly on the

Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization and

Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit

New York, 6 October 2003

…………………………………

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Mr. President,

I would like to join the previous speakers in thanking the Secretary-General for his comprehensive and elaborate reports on the work of the organization and the Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Declaration. These reports offer the General Assembly a broad picture of our achievements in the course of last year and of the challenges ahead. Allow me to acknowledge his firm leadership of the Organization and his continuing interest in the search for practical and innovative solutions. It is particularly commendable that the Secretary-General not only focused on the successes, but also highlighted the problems that need to be addressed.

Mr. President,

We fully agree with the Secretary-General that in the area of peace and security, last year was a trying year for the United Nations, and the war in Iraq severely tested the principle of collective security and the resilience of the Organization. Indeed, may be never since its creation, the relevance of the United Nations was so openly challenged and its usefulness questioned. The challenge, in turn, gave rise even to dire forecasts, trying to depict the Organization as moribund and about to suffer the fate of the League of Nations.

Although later developments in Iraq have clearly demonstrated that the United Nations was right in resisting and opposing the unilateral and unsanctioned invasion of Iraq and the return of the US Government to the UN to seek international assistance is a welcome development, causes for concern still persist. In his opening statement to the General Assembly last month, the Secretary-General was more explicit in pointing to the unilateral and pre-emptive use of force as a fundamental challenge to the principles on which, however imperfectly, world peace and stability have rested for the last 58 years.

While the ouster of the former Iraqi dictator was a welcome development for the Iraqis, the region and beyond, we cannot ignore the fact that it, nevertheless, damaged the legal regime governing the use of force under the UN Charter. United international action that the Secretary-General continued to urge throughout the deliberations leading up to the invasion of Iraq could and should have prevented the damage done to international law through the unlawful invasion of that country.

Now, there is an absolute need to remedy the damage done to the integrity of the rule of law at the international level. The United States is yet to demonstrate its preparedness to uphold international law, thus agreeing to rapid transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi people, which is both desirable and possible as the Afghan experience showed, and allowing the UN to play a central role in the transition.

We agree with the Secretary-General that, "whatever view each of us may take of the events of recent months, it is vital to all of us that the outcome is a stable and democratic Iraq at peace with itself and with its neighbors, and contributing to stability in the region.” Thus, as the Secretary-General emphasizes in his report, it is vital that the Iraqi people see a clear timetable with a specific sequence of events leading to the full restoration of sovereignty as soon as possible.

Mr. President,

My delegation has noted the reference of the Secretary-General to terrorism and the proliferation of WMD as issues that remained of great concern during the past year. On terrorism, we are pleased that he emphasized in his report the need for taking into account the root causes, such as poverty and grievances over injustices, in strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of terrorist acts. We fully agree that to keep a genuinely global coalition against terrorism together, the world will need to see progress on the other fronts of the struggle for a humane and just world.

On weapons of mass destruction, the Secretary General rightly refers to the concern of the international community on the risks of the development of WMD and its possible use by State or non-State actors. As suggested, the only powerful and legitimate tool continues to be universal adherence to, and effective compliance with, negotiated multilateral agreements. In this respect, the universality of instruments on elimination and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the CWC, BWC and particularly the NPT is yet to be achieved. In particular, the non-adherence of Israel to the NPT has so far blocked the realization of the initiative to establish a zone free from weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. We believe that the implementation of the NPT in its entirety, both on the rights as well as the obligations sides, is a sine qua non in furthering the cause of nonproliferation and preventing the relevant legal regime from crumbling.

Moreover, it is unfortunate that the year 2003, as highlighted in the report, bore witness to a stalemate in multilateral disarmament bodies. Following the collapse of the 10-year negotiations of BWC Protocol and the continued blockade in the Conference on Disarmament, last year the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC) and the GA Working Group on fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament (SSOD IV) both failed to reach conclusions due to the continuation of the unilateralist approach of some Member States. Even some Nuclear Weapons States during the course of deliberations in these two bodies called into question their already made unequivocal undertakings for nuclear disarmament. Furthermore, one of them continued its ideological opposition to CTBT by non-participation in the Third CTBT Facilitating Conference and more dangerously by re-examination of its testing policy for development of new nuclear weapons.

Mr. President,

We appreciate the work of the UN in the field of sustainable development. Given the importance of the upcoming Session of the CSD and its implication on the overall implementation of the Johannesburg Program of Implementation, there is a need for sufficient preparation for CSD12.

Regarding natural disaster management, it is of particular importance for the UN to deal with all aspects of natural disaster management including prevention, reduction, preparedness and recovery, and accelerate its activities in those regions that are more prone to natural disasters particularly in Asia.

The report of the Secretary General indicates the growing expectations from the UNFF process following the successful conclusion of the UNFF3 in Geneva. Therefore, it is necessary for relevant departments of the UN to work cooperatively and effectively to meet those expectations.

In regard to battling HIV/AIDS, we appreciate the activities of the UN in particular its assistance to countries in developing multi-sectoral plans and integrating HIV/AIDS into their development planning instruments. Moreover, recent developments on TRIPS Agreements and HIV/ADIS drugs need to be elaborated further.

We thank the Secretary General for his report on social development. We are particularly looking forward to participate in the Tenth Anniversary of the International Year for the Family which will be launched by the Secretary General during this Session of the General Assembly. DESA as the coordinator for international efforts on family related-issues needs to be provided with necessary resources in order to fulfill this task.

Mr. President,

The momentum that was generated after the International Conference on Financing for Development for at least partial fulfillment of the commitments by international community seems to be dying down. This would shatter the prospects for meeting the Millennium Development Goals in general and building a global partnership for development in particular. The recent Cancun Conference dealing with one of the most important components of that partnership, with its inability to produce the favorable result, as well as lack of progress on reform of IFIs once again demand us to pay urgent and critical attention to insufficient say and voice of developing countries in trade, financial and monetary institutions as well as the imperative that their structures should be reformed in favor of democratic participation of those countries. The United Nations should continue to lead the efforts towards achieving that objective.

Finally, Mr. President, my delegation has also noted the efforts cited in the report towards achieving greater consistency of practices on common support services, improving human resource management including expansion of learning and career support programs, sustaining positive financial trends of the last two years, and enhancing accountability, monitoring, evaluation and audit. Such collective endeavors are expected to increase efficiency within the Organization. Moreover, the report on agenda for further change submitted by the Secretary-General provided Member States with the opportunity of reviewing the results of reform process so far and examining the new proposals. As stated by the secretary General, there are several areas where the reforms have already taken effect and in other instances, work is under way. While reaffirming that the strengthening of efficiency of the United Nations and its centrality in international arena is essential to respond to current and future challenges and opportunities, we believe further constructive debate among all Member States is imperative to ensure that their demands, concerns and priorities, particularly those of developing countries, are duly addressed.

Thank you Mr. President.