Iran, at UN, insists will not submit to ‘lawless aggression’

GENEVA: Iran vowed at the United Nations on Monday that it would not submit to “lawless aggression”, saying its citizens were in “grave danger” from US and Israeli strikes.

At the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where countries were discussing the rights situation in Iran – notably following its crackdown on protesters in recent months – Tehran said the focus instead should be on the Middle East war.

“The most urgent and fundamental human rights issue concerning Iran is the imminent threat to the lives of 90 million people whose lives are in immediate and grave danger under the shadow of reckless military aggression,” said Ali Bahreini, Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva.

“An aggression that is carried out by some of the most lawless and unscrupulous actors on the international stage.”

Bahreini said that if such “reckless militarism” was met with indifference, “Iran will most certainly not be the last country to suffer such treatment.”

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On February 28, the US and Israel launched the first wave of attacks in a war that has seen Iran strike targets in multiple countries around the Gulf in response.

During a session on Iran’s record, Bahreini urged the UN’s top rights body to instead discuss the Iranian cultural heritage under “indiscriminate” attack and “the innocent children massacred at their school desks”.

Iran has accused the United States and Israel of conducting a deadly missile attack on a school in the southern city of Minab. Washington has said it is investigating the incident. AFP does not have access to the site.

The ambassador said more than 1,300 people had been killed in Iran and more than 7,000 injured since the US-Israeli strikes began.

“Under such circumstances, what exactly is Iran expected to do?” he asked, insisting: “Iran is not a nation that submits to coercion, intimidation or lawless aggression.”

The six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, plus Jordan, condemned Iran’s attacks on their territories, saying they endangered regional security and civilian lives, and “cannot be justified under any pretext”.

The Human Rights Council was holding an interactive dialogue between nations and the council’s special rapporteur on rights in Iran and its fact-finding mission on the country.