Iran’s UN envoy warns of ‘grave danger’ to 90 million citizens from US-Israeli military strikes, refusing to submit to ‘lawless aggression’ during a Geneva rights session.
GENEVA: Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva declared on Monday that his nation would not submit to “lawless aggression” from the United States and Israel.
Ali Bahreini told the UN Human Rights Council that the lives of 90 million Iranians were in “immediate and grave danger” from reckless military actions by what he called the most lawless actors on the international stage.
He stated that the most urgent human rights issue for Iran was this threat, shifting focus away from a council discussion on Iran’s own domestic rights record following recent protest crackdowns.
“The most urgent and fundamental human rights issue concerning Iran is the imminent threat to the lives of 90 million people whose lives are in immediate and grave danger under the shadow of reckless military aggression,” Bahreini said.
The ambassador warned that indifference to such “reckless militarism” meant Iran would certainly not be the last country to suffer.
He urged the council to instead discuss attacks on Iranian cultural heritage and “the innocent children massacred at their school desks,” referencing an incident in Minab which Iran blames on the US and Israel.
Bahreini claimed more than 1,300 people had been killed and over 7,000 injured in Iran since the US-Israeli strikes began following the first wave of attacks on February 28.
“Under such circumstances, what exactly is Iran expected to do,” he asked, insisting “Iran is not a nation that submits to coercion, intimidation or lawless aggression.”
Meanwhile, the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries plus Jordan jointly condemned Iran’s own retaliatory strikes on territories around the Gulf.
They stated those attacks endangered regional security and civilian lives and could not be justified under any pretext.
The statements were made during an interactive dialogue between nations and the council’s special rapporteur on rights in Iran.
