Permanent Representative of the Islamic republic of Iran to
the United Nations, Gholamali Khoshroo, made the remarks in a statement issued
on Friday prior to a Security Council Open Debate on ‘Women, Peace and
Security’.
The full text of Khoshroo’s statement is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Compassionate the Merciful
Mr. President,
I would to express my gratitude to Franc for organizing
today’s debate and thank the briefers.
A growing body of evidence shows that women’s participation
in peace and reconciliation process and their implementation has contributed to
higher chances for the sustainability of peace and security arrangement in
various parts of the world.
As a result of foreign intervention, military invasion as
well as foreign occupation combined with the upsurge of violent extremism and
terrorism, women and girls in many parts of the Middle East witness the
collapse of their hopes for a better future.
At the same time and sadly, in many conflicts, especially in
the Middle East, women have been and continue to be the primary victims of
large-scale, often systematic, sexual violence. Actions committed by terrorist
groups, particularly Daesh, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab show the most extreme
forms of such violence, which particularly targets women and children. There
are thousands of confirmed cases where sexual violence was used as a tactic of
terrorism, employed by extremist groups in places such as Iraq, Syria, Somalia,
Nigeria and Mali to advance their military, economic and ideological ends.
Mr. President
It is naïve to assume that by the physical disappearance of
Daesh in Iraq and Syria, their heinous activities and atrocities against the
innocent civilians, especially women and children would be seized. Indeed, they
have integrated those dreadful practices into their Takfiri ideology, a
destructive ideology of hate and exclusion, enforced by complicated networking
all around the world. The international community needs first and foremost to
concentrate its fight against such a vicious ideology and those who harbor it.
At the same time, we cannot neglect the very important dynamics
such as interventionist policies, occupation as well as "regime change”
attempts that have prepared the best breeding grounds for radicalism, terrorist
and extremist groups to grow and function. The experience in our region clearly
shows that after each aggression and foreign intervention there is a vacuum
period of ensuing instabilities, effectively utilized by those groups who have
committed the most serious crimes against innocent civilians and specially
women and children as the most vulnerable fabrics of the society freely. The
failed state situation and post aggression environment gives them a free hand
to organize themselves and propagate their ideology. Unfortunately, this
Council normally does not discuss the role of those who have the prime responsibility
by creating breeding ground for terrorists. For obvious reasons, it prefers to
discuss the symptoms and not the causes.
Iranian women are an integral part of the vibrant Iranian
society. Their outstanding role in the society to advance development, peace
and humanitarian causes is incontestable. They are active participants in
political life and elections as both candidates and voters. Education has
been the centerpiece of our efforts towards empowerment of women and girls
during the last four decades. It is not then surprising that the number of
girls who study medicine and science in Iran has become twice that of men. The
role of private sector, including micro-enterprises and cooperatives for
women’s economic empowerment shows a substantive increase in Iran. It is
noteworthy that, our national achievements are made against the most hostile
unilateral coercive sanctions against Iranians. Such inhumane and
indiscriminate sanctions, imposed by the US under dubious pretexts, are in
flagrant violation of the basic economic and social rights of our women and
girls as well as their right to development and undermines the constructive
role the Iranian civil society and women can play in their society.
Mr. President
I hope this open debate will contribute to ongoing efforts
to integrate the women, peace and security agenda into conflict prevention.
Thank you Mr. President.
