FM Zarif:

British UN resolution turned SC into arm of aggression

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iran’s FM Zarif said Tue. that the UK-drafted resolution on Yemen, although not adopted, was an ‘ugly’ show in support of aggression in the UN Security Council.

News ID: 68915

Date: 28 February 2018 - 11:33

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remark upon arrival in Bulgaria Tue. night, while asked to comment on the UK’s Iran-bashing draft at the UN Security Council on Mon., which proposed to include a provision that accused Iran for violating an arms embargo on Yemen.

The draft resolution failed to be adopted, as only 11 members of the UN Security Council voted in favor, China and Kazakhstan abstained, while Russia and Bolivia voted against. Meanwhile, the Security Council unanimously adopted a Russia-tabled draft as a replacement for what Russian UN envoy said to be “aimed at advancing a geopolitical agenda of certain countries” and liable to cause “fracturing of security council and sow discord.”

“What the United Stated in cooperation with certain countries did in regard to the draft resolution revealed the depth of their shamelessness and their efforts to cover up for the crimes in which they are complicit,” Zarif told reporters in Bulgaria as the second leg of his Eastern European tour.

He went on to add, “the Islamic Republic, from the onset of the Yemen war, made its stance clear that the only way to end the crisis is a political solution.”

Zarif then referred to his four-point peace plan for Yemen that was proposed to UN a few weeks after the Saudi regime began its airstrikes on the Arab country, adding “we proposed the plan three years ago, and now, after the killing of thousands of innocent people and suffering of over one million of Yemeni population from cholera, the only solution to end the crisis is still a political one.”

Zarif’s four-point peace plan for Yemen included: 1) ceasefire and immediate end to all military operations; 2) unimpeded urgent humanitarian and medical assistance to the people of Yemen; 3) resumption of Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned national dialogue, with the participation of the representatives of all political parties and social groups; and 4) establishment of an inclusive national unity government.

Noting the UK-drafted resolution on Yemen which was put to vote at the UN Security Council on Monday, Zarif described the move as an “ugly show in support of aggression”, adding “the show sullied the reputation of the Security Council, and turned it from an organization in charge of international peace and security into an arm of aggression; a mechanism that backs child-killing countries.”

“While they failed to reach their desired results, their show smeared the Security Council’s records, and I find that deeply regrettable,” he added.