A few days ago, some news agencies, especially the Western Hemisphere, and especially the United States, published a number of points in the UN Secretary-General’s six-month report on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. I would like to remind you that this is exactly the resolution that passed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015.
Interestingly, the leak took place before the UN member states became acquainted with the text of the report. The organizers of the news campaign were apparently in a hurry and wanted no one to be tempted to read the report themselves and independently evaluate its contents. The already mobilized media are proposing to the international community how to read the UN Secretary-General’s report correctly and what to look for. According to the organizers, everything that is unnecessary is not reflected in the information leak. It is not surprising that with such a reading, Iran is being held responsible for the current situation and all the problems posed by the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, although it is clear that it was the United States that unilaterally tore up the nuclear deal. And so far it has been blocking the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions by other countries.
The Russian side will provide a detailed analysis of the report, based on the current UN Secretary-General and the current procedures in the UN Security Council debate on June 30. The conversation will probably not be easy. What we will not discuss is that, unfortunately, it is difficult to call the report even and balanced. We understand that the authors had to spend most of their time in quarantine and lost a living connection with the United Nations and a real understanding of the current situation. In our opinion, the unilateral nature of the article stems from this, the article is facing a lack of objectivity, and the accusations against Iran have no facts. It is not permissible to attempt to provide one-sided assessments, especially when it comes to such a sensitive issue.
A wave of allegations is being made to the international community that Iran was involved in missile strikes on Saudi oil facilities in 2019, and that the United Nations appears to have proved that, and that Iran has violated some of the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, in particular restrictions on the supply of weapons and military equipment. I don’t want to define the report in detail. I believe it is necessary to state precisely that no one has provided convincing evidence of Iran’s violations to members of the UN Security Council. According to the report, a number of secretariat representatives went to the mission at the invitation of the interested countries and visited the evidence provided to them. Secretariat representatives had no choice but to make such a visit. UN Security Council Resolution 2231 does not mention at all that the representatives of the United Nations Secretariat have such duties. Necessary studies have not been carried out in the Secretariat. Based on such personal observations, self-proclaimed inspectors, Ali Ehhal, begin to claim that what they see is reminiscent of what the Iranian side once displayed at arms shows. The signatures in Persian are called undeniable evidence. It reminds us of all the past, when, based on conversations, they concluded in a number of languages that countries were involved, but it was not clear where these languages were used and what crimes they were associated with. Unsuccessful experts, for whom it is not clear what they decided to do for the non-related investigators, did not think that all these rhythmic scenes were arranged, and at any cost, they are trying to prove that Iran is guilty, and in the meantime, all methods are good for them.
Part of the so-called evidence against Iran is based on interceptions by the US and Australian navies of some ships in international waters, which is of particular concern to us. Such an activity is seemingly reminiscent of piracy, which in itself is outside the scope of well-known standards of interaction between the international community and international law. Thus, they carried out their provocative actions without any objective control, which makes all their discoveries worthless.
It is unfortunate that the authors of the report did not have the time or inclination to examine the mechanism that was put in place in January of this year to resolve disputes within the framework of the JCPOA, It should be noted that despite the baseless claims of the proponents of this narrative, the work was limited to the request of the three European countries from the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union. At the request, the three European countries informed the EU High Representative that they wanted to use the mechanism. Eventually, this mechanism did not work due to numerous ceremonial shortcomings. Without the initial elimination of such failures, it is not possible to set up a dispute resolution mechanism. The JCPOA Joint Commission did not even hold a meeting to consider Europe’s request.
Of course, this does not mean that the problems and challenges of implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2231 will resolve themselves. Resolving disputes requires a positive partnership and agenda, and pressure and confrontation will not work. This is exactly what the UN Security Council and the United Nations as a whole need to do. The JCPOA Joint Commission has been holding a heated debate for two years now. The Russian side is adamant that it is necessary to protect JCPOA from US hostile actions. The recent decision by US rulers to end the validity of all sanctions exemptions for JCPOA nuclear projects, which are the nature of the deal, is a clear example of who is destroying the agreements, and obstructs the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. We have talked distinctly with our partners many times about this situation.
In our opinion, the opportunity to return to JCPOA within the framework of the initial agreement and achieve the great goals stated in it has not been missed. The protection of the JCPOA and the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 can only be achieved collectively. This requires the commitment of all parties involved, as well as the decisive support of the rest of the world community. We hope that the UN Secretariat and Management will assist in this and refrain from any attempt to disrupt the relevant and consensual decisions of the United Nations Security Council. In our opinion, the actions of the enemies of JCPOA deserve a serious and decisive condemnation.