Zarif:

Iran Plays No Role in Targeting Aramco

TEHRAN (defapress)- Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the claims about Iran-made missiles attacking Aramco are unfounded, adding that the US and Israel have always tried to demonize Iran.

News ID: 81320

Date: 14 June 2020 - 13:59

Zarif made the remarks in a live interview on Instagram late on Saturday.

Over the past 40 years, the US and Israel have always been trying to show Iran as a threat to the world security, he said.

Iranian governments have always tried to have interaction with the world which in my opinion is a correct policy though it has opponents, Zarif added.

“There is a term in international relations that if you don't have a good relationship with a country, make it difficult for the whole world and tell it that this country has a security problem for you,” Iran’s top diplomat noted.

In relevant remarks, Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi categorically dismissed a recent report by the UN Secretariat on the implementation of the Security Council Resolution 2231 as full of serious flaws, describing the allegations as a fallacy.

"Iranian origin of arms is a fallacy. UN secretariat lacks capacity, expertise & knowledge to conduct investigations," Takht Ravanchi wrote on his Twitter account in reaction to the report by the UN Secretariat on Saturday.

"It seems the US-with its history of Iran-bashing -sits in the driver's seat to shape UN assessments," he added.

In a relevant development on Friday, Iran's foreign ministry in a statement categorically dismissed the allegations of the UN Secretariat, and expressed its deep concern over the abuse of the UN Secretariat for political purposes

"The UN Secretariat's report is clearly under political pressure from the US and Saudi regimes," the foreign ministry said.

It added that while the Secretariat, based on an unusual interpretation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, has so far refrained from reporting on numerous violations by the United States and European States with respect to the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA (Annex A to the Resolution) inter alia the unlawful withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA, which is a grave violation of Resolution 2231 and its subsequent illegal actions towards the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 by re-imposition of sanctions, the Secretariat treated with utmost tolerance and leniency.

Surprisingly, the Secretariat is engaged with the issue in which it has no authority to point out highly technical and legal findings, and its so-called technical report is in no way in line with the practical arrangements of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 to perform its functions, the statement further said.

The Iranian foreign ministry said that the Secretariat's report coincides with the US destructive plan which is reflected within the dangerous draft resolution that paves the way for extension of arms restrictions on Iran in an illegal way; and yet more surprisingly, the content of this report is used by the US two weeks prior to its official release.

"The aforementioned fact creates the impression that the report was prepared under direction of the United States and to be used in the efforts of that State in the Security Council against Iran" it added.

The statement reiterated that accusing the states of self-created processes and arbitrary procedures is heresy to the investigative processes of the international community. "Such dictated processes will cause severe damage to the credibility and undermine the integrity of the United Nations."

The Iranian foreign ministry also said that preparing report with political motives never change the facts, and it is obvious to everyone that the current situation in the region is a direct result of the wrong policies of the United States and the child-murderer regime of Saudi Arabia. "How is it that the UN Secretary-General refuses to take into consideration the sale of deadly weapons to Saudi Arabia, whose use against the defenseless people of Yemen are indisputable, but rather, he is sending his investigation teams to search through Saudi waste materials to provide evidence for US baseless claims?"

It noted that undoubtedly, the imposed reports will not help bring peace and security to the region and implement the UN resolutions.

"Furthermore, it will also completely destroy the credibility and reputation of the United Nations," it said, asking, "Are the members of the Secretariat worried about the similar treatment of the members of the Secretariat of the International Criminal Court by the United States?"

The statement said that the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly recommends the UN Secretariat not to move in the pre-planned US scenario to prevent the lifting of Iran's arms restrictions and not to assist a violating State in this illegal process by circulation of the imposed reports.

"The United States itself is the gravest violator of Security Council Resolution 2231, and no one can clear the name of that State from systematic violations of international rules," the Iranian foreign ministry concluded.

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