Iran writes to Security Council over increased U.S. military adventurism in Persian Gulf
TEHRAN — Iran’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Es'haq Al-e Habib has written to the Security Council warning about the increased U.S. military adventurism in the Persian Gulf.
“I am writing to inform you that the military adventurism of the United States of America in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea has heightened, particularly in recent weeks,” Al-e Habib wrote in a letter to President of the United Nations Security Council Jerry Matthews Matjila, according to IRNA.
He said that in addition to dispatching advanced and highly sophisticated weaponry to this region in the past several weeks, the United States has conducted a number of provocative military acts that include, but are not limited to, the flight of a number of its long-range strategic bombers in recent days over the Persian Gulf.
“Coupled with a series of systematic disinformation campaign, unfounded accusations and inflammatory statements and threats by the officials of the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran, such confrontational measures have further deteriorated the already tense security environment of this highly volatile region,” Al-e Habib pointed out. It came after the U.S. for the second time sent a pair of B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf in yet another provocative military posture against Iran, just about three weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump’s tenure comes to an end.
The bombers flew nonstop from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and headed home after a show of force over the western side of the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
Earlier in December, two B-52 bombers flew nonstop from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, across Europe, and then the Persian Gulf on a short-notice mission.
The U.S. Navy also announced the arrival of a nuclear-powered submarine in the Persian Gulf last week. The USS Georgia passed the Strait of Hormuz accompanied by two American warships, making it the first missile-loaded submarine of its kind to enter the Persian Gulf in eight years.
“Coupled with a series of systematic disinformation campaign, unfounded accusations and inflammatory statements and threats by the officials of the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran, such confrontational measures have further deteriorated the already tense security environment of this highly volatile region,” Al-e Habib pointed out.
If unchecked, he continued, such warmongering tendencies could escalate the situation to an alarming level, and it is self-evident that the United States shall bear the full responsibility for all consequences.
Warning against the aforesaid measures, “I must stress that while the Islamic Republic of Iran does not seek conflict, our ability and resolute determination to protect our people, to defend our security, sovereignty, territorial integrity and vital interests as well as to respond decisively to any threat or use of force against Iran must not be underestimated,” the envoy added.
Al-e Habib also said such military adventurism is in clear contradiction with the “Purposes and Principles” of the United Nations and has serious ramifications for regional and international peace and security.
The United Nations Security Council is expected to compel the United States to abide by the principles and rules of international law and stop these unlawful measures, he remarked, adding, “Likewise, the international community should demand that the United States put an end to its destabilizing measures in such a volatile region as the Persian Gulf.”
The Iranian envoy also requested the “present letter circulated as a document of the Security Council.”
MH/PA