Alwaght- Scattered riots in parts of Iran intensified the already-burgeoning anti-Tehran measures by Washington, Tel Aviv, and Riyadh. The American President Donald Trump staged a campaign of Twitter posts voicing support for the protestors and calling on the world to back the Iranian people, though he in mid-October called the Iranians a “terrorist nation” and banned their entry to the US. But the US administration’s meddling in the Iranian affair was not restricted to Trump’s tweet. The US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley pushed for a Security Council’s emergency meeting which was held on Saturday. The session proved to be a total failure for the Trump administration’s foreign policy as it failed to make other UNSC members walk in line with Washington’s anti-Iranian agenda.
What did the UNSC members say about Iran?
The US envoy on Tuesday called on the UNSC and the United Nations Human Rights Council to hold emergency meetings in solidarity with the protestors in Iran. The session was held and ended without any outcomes due to overwhelming opposition to any intervention into the Iranian internal affairs. The members decided that Iran’s home situation was unrelated to the regional and international security, something making the UNSC unqualified to address the country’s recent unrest.
A majority of the diplomats found the Iranian developments during last week an internal issue, adding that what was going on Iran never jeopardized the international peace and security. The opponents of the US agenda used this principle to disqualify the Council’s looking into the case. The US effort had only two backers: Britain and Peru.
During the session, Haley over and over repeated the accusations against Tehran, but, to her disappointment, the majority were not supportive.
François Delattre, the permanent representative of France distanced his country from the tone adopted by the US, saying “However worrying the events of the last few days in Iran may be, they do not constitute per se a threat to international peace and security. We must be wary of any attempts to exploit this crisis for personal ends, which would have the diametrically opposed outcome to that which is wished.”
Britain’s envoy Matthew Rycroft said that Iran’s security activities are sometimes threatening to the others. He, furthermore, accused Tehran of supporting terrorism, echoing accusations made by Haley.
Kuwait’s representative has called on others to learn from the “catastrophic” consequences of the Arab uprisings and Syria crisis.
The Swedish envoy described dialogue with Iran as important and said that human rights issues should be separated from the nuclear deal, signed with the Islamic Republic in 2015.
And the Netherlands, which is predominantly an anti-Iranian side and is a safe haven for the anti-Tehran Mujahideen-e Khalq Organization (MKO), blacklisted by Tehran as a terrorist organization, declined to show backing to the US zeal for keeping the unrest unfolding. He said that the situation is now calm in Iran, adding that he hoped for more stability in Iranian cities.
The Polish envoy to the UN hailed the Iranian stabilizing contribution to the peace and stability in the region.
And China envoy called on the world to respect Iran’s sovereignty and told the attendees that the UNSC should not talk about the countries’ internal issues.
But the strongest opposition came from the Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzya.
"Regrettably, today we are witnesses again to how the United States misuses the platform of the UN Security Council," he said, adding "Why does the US, a permanent member of the Security Council and one of the co-authors of the UN Charter, undermine the authority of the UN Security Council as the main body responsible for maintaining international peace and security? It is clear to one and all that the proposed theme for discussion does not correlate with Security Council’s prerogatives”, Tass news agency quoted him as saying.
The Russian diplomat warned that by calling such meetings the US "wastes the Security Council’s energy."
"Instead of focusing on the solution of acute crises in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, North Korea and Africa you suggest meddling in the internal affairs of other states. We do not want to be accomplices to destabilization in Iran or elsewhere," Nebenzya added, addressing the American representative.
He, furthermore, wondered why the US has called for the meeting while the internal political situation has normalized in Iran. Nebenzya maintained that the US interventionist remarks “caused Iranian society to consolidate on the platform of anti-US sentiment."
"If your logic is to be followed, Security Council meetings should have been called after the well-known events in Ferguson, Missouri, or when violence was used against Occupy Wall Street demonstrations on Manhattan," Russian envoy told Nikki Haley. "Or, possibly, let us call a UN Security Council meeting when a tide of demonstrations sweeps some Western countries?”
Iran and Russia in past few years engaged in a strategic alliance to confront the US destructive role that already destabilized the West Asia region. The Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has blasted the US approach to Iran. He posted on Twitter: “The UNSC rebuffed the US' naked attempt to hijack its mandate. The majority emphasized the need to fully implement the JCPOA and to refrain from interfering in internal affairs of others. Another FP blunder for the Trump administration.”
Another blow to US unilateralism, this time in the UN
The UN meeting on Saturday was a real defeat for the American unilateral policies on the world stage. Although Russia, China, and France took the Iranian side, it should not be taken for granted that opposition of some countries to the US was meant to push against the US hardline and unilateral actions. In case of Palestine, Washington just against the world’s will announced al-Quds (Jerusalem) the capital of Israeli regime, a move even drew the French and British disapproval. Additionally, Trump during his first year of being at the White House withdrew from several global treaties. Since al-Quds decision that sparked global outrage, Iran meeting is Trump’s second diplomatic defeat in less than two months. Through the UNSC meeting, the US sought to garner support for additional anti-Iranian sanctions, and so sidetrack the global attention from the Palestinian cause. But its efforts at the end of the road only found favor with Britain and Peru. Russia, China, Bolivia, Ivory Coast, Sweden, and Equatorial Guinea came against the US, and Netherlands and Kuwait chose to show a degree of neutrality. The meeting is seen as showcasing the US isolation under Donald Trump.
