Envoy Rejects Ukraine’s Claim on Violation of UN Resolution by Iran

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations rejected Ukraine’s accusation that Tehran has violated a UN resolution by allegedly providing drones to Russia.
Saeed Iravani made the remarks in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the world body’s Security Council on Thursday, IRNA reported.
The envoy submitted the letter after Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya wrote to Guterres and Security Council members, contending that the Iran had violated the UNSC Resolution 2231 by allegedly transferring unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia, which is conducting a military operation in Ukraine.
The letter obtained by the AP alleges that Iran had violated the resolution by breaching the Paragraph 6 of its Annex B that used to ban Tehran from selling “uncrewed aerial vehicle systems having a range equal to or greater than 300 kilometers.” Kyslytsya also invited UN experts to visit his country to ascertain, what he called, Iran-built drones being used by Russia in the military operation.
Responding to Kiev’s allegations, Iravani noted that the restrictions mentioned in the Annex B of the UNSC resolution had “ended in October 2020.” “Since then, none of Iran’s actions toward provision, selling or transfer of weapons or related materials to other countries has been subject to the resolution,” he stressed.
The Ukrainian official also accused Iran of breaching the Paragraph 4 of Annex B, which bans development of nuclear-capable missile systems.
Iravani also denounced the Ukrainian official’s latter claim as “wrongful and arbitrary interpretation” of the resolution and Paragraph 4’s “spirit”.
The Islamic Republic “has neither provided, nor intends to provide [any foreign party] with items, materials, equipment, commodities, and technology that contribute to development of nuclear weapons.”
Ukraine’s invitation of UN experts toward examination of Iran’s alleged violation of Resolution 2231 is, therefore, “lacking in all legal foundation within Resolution 2231’s framework,” the Iranian diplomat asserted.
The official called on the UN secretary-general to prevent any “misuse” of the resolution in relation to the war in Ukraine.
He finally called on the world body to confront such unfounded anti-Iranian allegations.
Iran and Russia had earlier rejected allegations that Tehran supplied Moscow with drones for use in the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters after a Security Council closed-door meeting on Wednesday, Iravani categorically rejected “unfounded and unsubstantiated” claims that Tehran has transferred UAVs to Moscow for use in the war in Ukraine.

Consistent Position 

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has taken a clear and consistent position on the situation in Ukraine which has been pronounced since the start of the conflict,” he said.
The Islamic Republic has always emphasized that all UN members must fully respect the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter as well as applicable international law, including sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, according to the diplomat.
As a country that has experienced eight years of imposed war and aggression, Iran has “consistently advocated for peace and the immediate end to the conflict in Ukraine,” urging the engaged parties to exercise restraint, avoid escalation of tension and engage in a meaningful process for settling the dispute through peaceful means while also addressing the root causes of the situation, the diplomat said.
The Iranian envoy once again voiced support for “ongoing efforts to find a peaceful solution to this conflict” and noted that Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has made contacts with his counterparts from both sides on several occasions.
Iravani said it is “disappointing” that the West has mounted a “disinformation campaign against Iran” and made “misleading interpretation of the Security Council Resolution 2231” as an attempt to “wrongly establish a link between their baseless allegations against Iran with this resolution.”
“Iran emphasized that the issues surrounding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine are completely irrelevant to Resolution 2231 both in substance and format and any activity in this regard fall outside the scope of the resolution and secretariat mandate,” he added.
He emphasized that “Iran is of the firm belief that none of its arms exports, including UAVs, to any country” violate the Resolution 2231.
Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy also said on Wednesday that his country will reassess cooperation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres if he sends experts to Ukraine to inspect drones that western powers claim were made in Iran and used by Moscow in the ongoing war in that country.
Speaking to reporters after the UN meeting, the Russian diplomat called on the UN chief and his staff to “abstain from engaging in any illegitimate investigation.”
“Otherwise, we will have to reassess our collaboration with them, which is hardly in anyone’s interests. We do not want to do it, but there will be no other choice,” he said.
He emphasized that the drones found in Ukraine are not Iranian but Russian-made, explaining that images of the drones downed in Ukraine clearly have Russian inscriptions on them.