TEHRAN – The Iranian mission to the UN in New York responded to allegations by Albania and the United Arab Emirates at the United Nations General Assembly.

The Iranian mission requested the floor to exercise the right of reply in response to the unfounded allegations and fabrications leveled against the Islamic Republic of Iran during the General Debate on Saturday, September 24, by the representative of the Republic of Albania.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects such fictitious accusations, which are unfounded and based solely on false and erroneous assumptions. As asserted in our letter dated 10 September 2022, addressed to the Security Council and the Secretary-General, published as UN document S/2022/685, Iran has categorically rejected any kind of attribution for the alleged cyber-attack on Albania's infrastructure,” the Iranian mission said in a statement. 

The statement said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has long been the primary target and the main victim of infrastructure cyberattacks, which in certain cases, have disrupted the delivery of public services and governmental functions. The Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes once again, its persistent position that cyberspace and the ICT environment must be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and that States must act cooperatively and in full compliance with applicable international law.”

It added, “Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the illegal actions carried out on September 8, 2022, by Albanian police forces against Iran's diplomatic premises in Tirana, where they used force to enter Iran's diplomatic missions without Iran's consent. Such unlawful acts, committed in the following unilateral termination of bilateral diplomatic relations by the Albanian Government on September 7, 2022, are a flagrant violation of international law, specifically the principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises.”

The statement concluded, “We recall the international obligations of the Republic of Albania under the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, which required all States to take all appropriate steps to protect diplomatic and consular premises from any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of these missions or impairment of their dignity and any attack on diplomatic premises, agents and consular officers.”

The Iranian mission also issued a separate statement in response to allegations by the UAE regarding the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. 

The Iranian mission took the floor to exercise the right of reply in response to the statement made by the representative of the United Arab Emirates, during the General Debate on Saturday, 24th September, in which once again assaulted Iran’s territorial integrity by repeating a baseless claim about Iranian three islands in the Persian Gulf.

“We regard such an irresponsible statement and unfounded claim as interference in Iran's internal affairs, which violates fundamental principles of international law, including the principles of good neighborliness and non-interference in the domestic affairs of other sovereign states, and we strongly reject it. The three islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf have been and continue to be an inseparable and integral part of Iranian territory, and Iran reiterates its sovereignty over those islands. Therefore, any claim to the contrary is categorically rejected,” the Iranian mission said. 

It added, “Any decision with regard to and measures taken in those islands by Iranian officials has always been taken on the basis of the principle of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has always pursued a policy of friendship and good neighborliness towards all its neighboring countries and would like to express its aims at strengthening bilateral relations with United Arab Emirates; Meanwhile, I would like to reemphasize that the territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its sovereignty over the aforementioned islands are not negotiable.”

It concluded, “It is also obvious that based on historical facts, established years before the birth of the United Arab Emirates, these islands were Iranian, are Iranian, and will remain Iranian. It should also be reminded that the term ‘Persian Gulf’ has been the only correct appellation for the body of water situated between the Arabian Peninsula and the Iranian plateau, since 500 years Before Christ, and will remain so forever.”