TEHRAN – Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations has said that the Trump administration is violating peremptory norms to bring Israel above U.S. itself, noting that “America First” is a sham motto.

 Majid Takht-Ravanchi made the remarks in his address to the UN Security Council meeting on “Situation in the Middle East, Including the Palestinian Question”.

Takht-Ravanchi said that the Security Council must ensure honoring the basic international law and oblige Israel to fully withdraw from the occupied territories of Palestine.

“The first and foremost problem of the Middle East is the question of Palestine, and the plan by the U.S. and some of its allies including Israel and Saudi Arabia to substitute it with artificial and manufactured threats and crises is designed to divert the attention of the international community from its illegal occupation of Palestine and others’ lands,” he explained.

The envoy also stressed that the Golan Heights is an inseparable part of Syria.

The text of Takht-Ravanchi’s speech is as follows: 

Mr. President,

I thank you for convening this open debate on the world’s longest crisis.

It is a given fact that no crisis can be solved permanently without addressing its main root causes, and the question of Palestine is no exception. It has started as a result of the occupation and can come to an end only by ending the occupation.

The Security Council, whose primary responsibility is the maintenance of international peace and security, has an explicit legal obligation to counter aggression and occupation. It must therefore take the necessary measures to force the Occupying Power to end the occupation.

However, the consideration of this issue by the Council over the course of the past seven decades has resulted in the adoption of some resolutions with no actual effect on the fate of Palestinians.

Interestingly enough, relying on the absolute support of a permanent member of this Council, Israel has implemented none of those resolutions.

Additionally, whenever this Council has opted to adopt any resolution to force Israel to implement them, the U.S. has vetoed all such proposals (44 times thus far).

As a result, the Zionist regime has been emboldened to continue, with total impunity, its expansionist policies and illegitimate practices and has systematically committed all four core international crimes, i.e. crime of aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

However, under the current U.S. Administration , the situation has changed drastically as the U.S. itself has also embarked on violating directly relevant binding resolutions of the Security Council.

The first example was moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and the second one was recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Occupied Syrian Golan.

Both acts are against the peremptory norms of international law, let alone Council’s resolutions.

According to international law, the territory of a State shall not be the object of acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force, and no such territorial acquisition shall be recognized as legal.

Therefore, the acts of the U.S. in this regard are illegitimate, null and void and have no legal weight and value.

The Islamic Republic of Iran once again condemns, in the strongest possible terms, these internationally wrongful acts.

We stress that the Golan is and will remain an integral part of Syria.

Mr. President,

The history of Palestine over the past seven decades teaches us certain important lessons.

First, on Israel, this Council has been both inactive and ineffective because of the unreserved support of the U.S. for Israel. Indeed, the continuation of this situation would further erode the credibility of the Council and deteriorate its already trust and confidence deficit. Likewise, in addition to UN, international law is another victim of the Israeli intransigence to end its occupation of Palestine.

Second, on Israeli related issues, the only principle guiding the U.S. foreign policy, particularly under its current Administration , is not “America first”, rather it is “Israel first”; even at the price of blatantly violating the basic principles as well as the peremptory norms of international law.

Third, the U.S. has proven to be an unreliable partner, particularly when it comes to anything regarding Palestine. Therefore, no one should trust its ill-advised proposals about the Palestinian question, including with respect to the so-called “deal of the century”. 

Indeed, the inalienable rights of a nation can neither be compromised by putting them under extreme military, political and economic pressure nor be bought by petrodollars.

Fourth, in the last 70 years, Israel has committed numerous crimes, including waging war against all neighbors with total impunity. The decade-long illegal inhumane blockade on Gaza, the continuation of which is drastically deteriorating the already grave humanitarian situation, is another example in this regard.

Under current circumstances, the international community must continue its longstanding strong support for the just cause of the Palestinians and the full realization of their inalienable rights, in particular the establishment of the independent State of Palestine with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

Furthermore, the international community should resist any attempt by the U.S. and Israel to change the nature of real threats in the Middle East. The first and foremost problem of the Middle East is the question of Palestine, and the plan by the U.S. and some of its allies including Israel and Saudi Arabia to substitute it with artificial and manufactured threats and crises is designed to divert the attention of the international community from its illegal occupation of Palestine and others’ lands. 

SP/PA