Iran Urges UN to Push for End to Israeli War on Gaza

In a letter to President of the UN Security Council Joonkook Hwang and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Ali Baqeri reiterated the need for the international community to stop the Israeli war on Gaza.

What follows is the text of the letter:

Excellency,

Pursuant to previous letters of the Islamic Republic of Iran concerning the occupying Israeli regime’s genocidal invasion of the Gaza Strip, including the letter dated 19 January 2024 (A/78/77-S/2024/174) once again, I deem it necessary to underline the crucial role and inevitable responsibility of the United Nations with respect to the ongoing massacre in the occupied Palestinian territories by the Israeli regime.

Despite widespread condemnation and global outrage, and in spite of the decree of the International Court of Justice dated 24 May 2024 ordering the occupying aggressor regime to “in conformity with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and in view of the worsening conditions of life faced by civilians in the Rafah Governorate:(a) Immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (b) Maintain open the Rafah crossing for unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance; (c) Take effective measures to ensure the unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, fact-finding mission or other investigative body mandated by competent organs of the United Nations to investigate allegations of genocide,”, just days after the ICJ’s ruling the international community has witnessed deeply distressing scenes following the airstrikes on a displacement camp in Rafah killing at least 45 people qualifying as another phase in the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian nation.

This is withstanding the fact that around one million innocent civilians have fled to Rafah over the past three weeks, ironically, to take shelter and protect themselves from the Israeli regime’s airstrikes and ground operations, only to find that there remains nowhere safe to go, facing a sense of abandonment sans food sans water, with piles of waste, rubble, and wreckage, struggling to survive in utterly unsuitable living conditions. Even providing assistance and protection by humanitarian entities has become nearly impossible due to the genocidal acts of the occupying regime.

Excellency,

I wish to reiterate that the international community is legally and morally duty-bound to stop and prevent the genocide of the Palestinian nation. It is imperative to ensure the immediate and unhindered fulfillment of all their humanitarian needs. The United Nations has a duty to urge all of its member States to refrain from collaborating with the aggressor regime; such collaboration could constitute their complicity in the commission of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community and entail their international responsibility. Meanwhile, The Security Council must shoulder its responsibilities enshrined in the UN Charter in this regard.

The international community is bound to urgently put an end to the ongoing atrocities perpetrated in the occupied Palestinian territories and protect innocent civilians. In this context, it is highly expected that your Excellency, utilize all means available with the collaboration of UN member states to put pressure on the Israeli regime in order to compel it to abide by the binding provisional measure of the International Court of Justice and stop genocide of the Palestinian people.

Furthermore, I would like to emphasize the obligation to prevent genocide arising from the 1948 Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; while recalling the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security as per Article 24 of the UN Charter as well as your responsibility under Article 99 thereof, I must underline that the jus cogens character of the obligation to prevent genocide implies that all states, specifically those who provide support to the Israeli regime are legally under the duty to prevent genocide, in particular, by ceasing to provide any aid to the genocidal regime. It is also obvious that any effort to paralyze the Security Council by obstructing it from taking appropriate measures to stop and prevent the Israeli genocidal attacks in Gaza, including in Rafah, through using the veto power of one permanent member would place the responsibility on the shoulder of the Security Council and particularly on the member that has prevented the Security Council to adopt its binding resolutions to halt Israeli aggression from the onset of the genocidal attempts.

It is high time that the international community demonstrated unity in urging and compelling the Israeli aggressor regime to fully, immediately, and effectively implement the provisional measures indicated in ICJ Orders of 26 January 2024, 28 March 2024, and 24 May 2024.

We are confident that under your Excellency’s able leadership the ongoing global demands for justice will not remain unanswered.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.