TEHRAN – Iran has called for the lifting of unilateral sanctions against Syria and underlined the need for carrying out recovery projects that help restore basic services to the Syrian people. 

Zahra Ershadi, Iran’s deputy ambassador to the UN, said Iran supports the implementation of UN Resolution 2642 on Syria, which focuses on humanitarian assistance. 

She made the remarks in the first meeting of the Informal Interactive Dialogue on Syria which was initiated based on UN Security Council Resolution 2642. The meeting was convened by France and was attended by Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs.

“The adoption of Resolution 2642 (2022) was a significant step toward addressing Syria's critical needs. The resolution, which focuses on humanitarian assistance, specifically calls for early recovery projects and emphasizes the critical importance of expanding cross-line delivery throughout Syria, along with cross-border operations,” Ershadi said.

She added, “The resolution calls for an Informal Interactive Dialogue in order to review and monitor the resolution's effective implementation on a regular basis, particularly the commitments to early recovery projects. We trust that IID will be able to serve as an appropriate mechanism for the Council to monitor how the resolution is being implemented fairly and effectively.”

 Ershadi continued, “Given the severity of the situation in Syria and the ongoing economic difficulties that have affected people across the country, we call for the implementation of the resolution in a balanced and efficient manner, including early recovery projects such as water systems, and electricity which are critical to restoring access to basic services. We urge all parties to carefully adhere to the basic principles governing humanitarian assistance, as well as to ensure neutrality and transparency. Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be also fully respected.”

She stated, “We reiterate our call for the lifting of unilateral sanctions against Syria because they are preventing the resolution's implementation, making it more difficult to deliver humanitarian aid, and even delaying the return of refugees and internally displaced people. We are hoped that political circumstances will not prevent or impair the efficient implementation of the resolution.”

The deputy ambassador concluded, “while we commend and support the UN's and the donors' efforts to aid Syria, we expected the Secretariat to provide, in line with paragraph 5 of the resolution, detailed and clear information on early recovery projects in terms of their number, nature, and geographic distribution.”

This is the second Iranian statement about Syria in the UN in less than a month. Earlier in mid-September, Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, told a UN Security Council meeting on Syria that there is no military solution to Syria. “The crisis must be resolved peacefully, in accordance with the UN Charter and international law, as well as with full respect for the independence, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic. Ending the occupation and ongoing violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria is essential for such a solution and political process. The fight against terrorism must not be used to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria,” he said. 

Iravani noted, “The illegal presence of foreign forces in parts of Syria, which has created ideal conditions for terrorist activities, must be ended. Recent military airstrikes in the northeast of Syria by illegal foreign forces cannot be justified under Article 51 of the Charter or by an arbitrary interpretation of self-defense. These attacks constitute a flagrant violation of international law and the United Nations Charter. The free movement of terrorist organizations within Syrian territory, where foreign forces are illegally present, endangers regional and international peace and security. We strongly condemn the repeated aerial military aggression and violations of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic by the Israeli regime.”

He added, “The ongoing Israeli regime’s attacks, particularly the systematic and deliberate targeting of civilians and critical infrastructure in Syria, including the most recent attack on Aleppo International Airport on August 31, are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and constitute an act of aggression and a war crime. We call on the Security Council to hold this regime accountable for such violations and atrocities, which threaten regional and international peace and security.”

Iravani continued, “Regarding the political process, we support calling the next Constitutional Committee meeting as the committee’s ongoing work is critical to reaching a political solution. We maintain our contact with the Syrian government, the UN Special Envoy, and our Astana Format partners in order to hold the next meeting of the Committee, and we support the Special Envoy's efforts in this regard. We also emphasize once again that the Committee must work in strict accordance with its Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure, free of outside influence or pressure, and without the imposition of artificial deadlines. This must be a truly Syrian-led and Syrian-owned effort, with the UN's role limited to facilitation.”