In a statement delivered during an interactive dialogue on the UN chief’s candidacy, held in New York on April 21, the Iranian envoy stressed that the secretary general must act as a guardian of the UN Charter, warning against silence or ambiguity in response to acts of aggression and breaches of international law.
What follows is the full text of statement by Nasser Assadi Nazari, third counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Iran to the UN:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Thank you, Madam President.
The Islamic Republic of Iran views the Secretary General not as a mere administrative official, but as the guardian of the UN Charter. The key issue is whether the next Secretary General will firmly uphold the UN Charter, particularly the principle of the prohibition of the use of force under Article 2(4), a peremptory norm of international law.
Recent acts of aggression by Israel and the United States against Iran, including unlawful attacks on safeguarded nuclear facilities, raise a critical concern: can silence or ambiguity in the face of such clear violations be reconciled with this responsibility?
In this context, our clear questions are:
1. Will the next Secretary General take an explicit and public position, without hesitation, in response to blatant violations of the Charter in any and all parts of the world?
2. Will the next Secretary General be willing, even in the face of major powers, to fully uphold the principles of impartiality and independence enshrined in Article 100?
3. And ultimately, will the next Secretary General defend, in practice—not merely in words—the equal rights of all sovereign States, in particular, the rights outlined in Article 105 of the Charter, or will we continue to witness the persistence of double standards?
We believe that the Secretary General should be the voice of justice, a defender of international law, and one who does not remain silent in the face of clear violations of the Charter.
In our view, the credibility of the United Nations, now more than ever, depends on a principled and responsible choice.
Thank you.