Iran’s foreign minister has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to hold to account the Israeli regime and its supporters, including the United States, for the occupying entity’s crimes and atrocities against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in an address to the 55th session of the UNHRC in the Swiss city of Geneva on Monday as he criticized Israel’s decades-long aggression and Western-backed violation of Palestinians’ rights in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
“Today, the world is witnessing an all-out support of the United States and a number of its allies for the Zionist regime. Such backing amounts to actual complicity in genocide,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
“The United Nations Human Rights Council, as the highest manifestation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, should hold the Zionist regime and its supporters accountable for their crimes against humanity,” he added.
The Iranian foreign minister stressed that the impunity of Israeli leaders over the past eight decades has been the main reason behind the continuation and escalation of the occupation and killings by the regime.
Amir-Abdollahian said the trial and punishment of the perpetrators of the most serious international crimes against the Palestinians should be high on the agenda of competent international institutions, especially the International Criminal Court.
Underlining that the realization of human rights goals in the international arena is facing several serious challenges, including systematic and widespread homicide by the world’s only apartheid regime, namely the Zionist regime, the top Iranian diplomat called on the international community “not to allow the genocidal and gruesome crimes to become a normal routine.”
“The international record of human rights has been stained and blackened as the number of women martyred in Gaza has reached thousands and this shameless massacre of women and children continues in the form of genocide,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
“Restoring the position of human rights in the world requires that we do not allow the occupying regime to continue the genocide of Palestinians by continuing air, sea and land attacks and plunging Gaza into famine,” he added.
During his address, the Iranian foreign minister also highlighted the Islamic Republic’s role in the fight against terrorism and extremism, stressing the need for concerted efforts and international cooperation in the war against terrorism as a global menace.
“Eradication of terrorism requires, above all, an end to the instrumental use of terrorism by certain powers, including the US. It is most unfortunate that several Western states continue to host terrorist elements. This is another example of contradiction and hypocrisy when it comes to supporting human rights,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
Condemning unilateral and coercive measures against countries as a violation of basic human rights, he said, “The imposition of unilateral sanctions against nations is an illegal measure that is tantamount to a crime against humanity.”
Stressing the Islamic Republic’s steadfastness in respecting human rights and human dignity, Amir-Abdollahian praised Iran as a country that has been at the forefront of the fight against terrorist groups and has had many martyrs on this path.
Heading a diplomatic delegation, Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Geneva early on Monday to attend the 55th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council and the high-level segment of the Conference on Disarmament.
The Iranian foreign minister is also scheduled to hold meetings with his foreign counterparts and several UN officials during his stay in Geneva.
