Iran Urges UN Condemnation of Hilla Terror Attack
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s envoy to the United Nations urged the international body to condemn “in the strongest possible way” a recent terrorist attack near Iraq’s city of Hilla that killed many people, including Iranian pilgrims.
In a letter sent to UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon and President of the UN Security Council Fodé Seck on Saturday, Iran’s Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Gholam Hossein Dehqani slammed the “barbaric terrorist attack” in Iraq that killed scores of pilgrims returning from Arbaeen pilgrimage in Karbala.
He also called on the UNSC to “take concrete actions in addressing the scourge of terrorism.”
More than 100 people were killed and dozens wounded in the bomb blast at a gas station near the town of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, on Thursday.
The Daesh (ISIL, also known as ISIS) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault.
What follows in the text of the Iranian envoy’s letter:
In the name of God, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful
Excellencies,
Upon instructions from my government, I have the honor to write to you to draw your attention to the barbaric terrorist attack on 24 November 2016 at a gas station on a highway 100 km south of Baghdad, Iraq, which killed and injured more than 150 people, most of them Iranian pilgrims on route back from a religious gathering in the city of Karbala. The blast from the explosives-laden truck set afire five pilgrim buses, killing scores of innocent people in the buses and surrounding areas. Regrettably, it is not the first terrorist attack of this kind; as in recent years, scores of Iranian pilgrims have lost their lives in similar attacks.
The Iranian people and government have and continue to do whatever in their power to help eradicate Daesh, which has claimed responsibility for the attack, and its affiliates and other terrorist groups and elements. This horrendous act of terrorism and so many other similar acts in which many thousands of innocent souls perished in Iraq and Syria and many other places should remind all of us of our duty to effectively help destroy terrorist groups. It should also serve as a reminder to those who have spread destructive Takfiri ideology and sectarian hatred and helped terrorist groups in different ways to stop their acts and join the international community in the fight against violent extremism and terrorism.
While we expect that the United Nations condemn this terrorist attack in the strongest possible way, my people and government also expect that the United Nations, especially the Security Council, live up to the expectation of peoples and Member States and take concrete actions in addressing the scourge of terrorism.
I should be grateful if you have this letter circulated as a document of Security Council.
Please accept, Excellencies, the assurances of my highest consideration.