Iran: UN Warns Against Protest Executions, Urges Due Process & Diplomacy Over Military Action | UN

Описание: Assistant Secretary-General Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee called on Iranian authorities “to halt any execution linked to protest related cases,” and expressed “alarm” at public statements suggesting military strikes on Iran.

Pobee called on Iran “to respect due process and fair trial rights for all detainees” and for all deaths to be “promptly, independently and transparently investigated.”

On military intervention, she said, “this external dimension adds volatility to an already combustible situation. All efforts must be undertaken to prevent any further deterioration,” adding that Secretary-General António Guterres “remains convinced that all concerns regarding Iran, including those related to the nuclear issue and ongoing protests, are best addressed through diplomacy and dialog.”

United States Ambassador Michael Waltz said, “the people of Iran are demanding their freedom like never before in the Islamic Republic's brutal history” and quoted US President Donald J. Trump saying, “the United States of America stands by the brave people of Iran. Period.”

Waltz denied allegations “put forward by the regime that these inspired protests are somehow a foreign plot to give a precursor to military action.”

He said, “everyone in the world needs to know that the regime is weaker than ever before and therefore is putting forward this lie because of the power of the Iranian people in the streets. They are afraid. They're afraid of their own people.”

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia for his part said, “the whole world has been watching as the United States continues to escalate tensions and fuel hysteria around Iran, declaring that help is already on the way. What's more, in its official statements, Washington has not even tried to cover up the genuine reasons for its alleged concern over the country's internal political situation as it threatens new strikes against Iran.”

Today's meeting, Nebenzia said, “is nothing more than yet another attempt to justify blatant aggression and interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.”

Finally Iranian Ambassador Gholamhossein Darzi told the Council that the United States “is attempting to portray itself as a friend of the Iranian people, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for political destabilization and military intervention under a so-called humanitarian narrative.”

Darzi said, “Iran seeks neither escalation nor confrontation. However, any act of aggression, direct or indirect, will be met with a decisive, proportionate and lawful response under article 51 of the charter. This is not a threat. It is a statement of legal reality. Responsibility for all consequences will rest solely with those who initiate such unlawful acts.”

He denied allegations that the government of the Iran has killed peaceful protesters, which he said, “is quite a distortion of the facts on the ground.”

Darzi said, “what the Iranian security forces did confront firmly and responsibly were armed ISIS style terrorist cells and violent separatist groups funded and armed by a few foreign entities, including the Israeli regime. These groups deliberately targeted civilians and law enforcement officers in an attempt to ignite civil war and create the conditions for foreign intervention.”