Israel and Saudi Arabia have long been violating human rights in the Middle East with impunity because they are assured of strong backing from the United States, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday.
In a statement during an open debate of the Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, Gholamali Khoshroo said, "Israeli and Saudi regimes continue their attacks on civilians while the US role, as a permanent member of the council, is to attack the truth by supporting them and providing them with impunity."
The Iranian government condemns all attacks that have taken place against civilians, including medical and humanitarian staff, throughout the world, especially in Palestine, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria, he noted, according to a text of his speech carried by IRNA.
"The new round of repression and the massacre of unarmed Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including women and children, is the latest in an old pattern followed by the Israeli regime over the past seven decades."
The ambassador was referring to the killings by Israeli security forces of 60 Palestinians and injuring more than 2,700 on May 14 during demonstrations against the controversial opening of the US Embassy in occupied Beit-ul-Moqaddas (Jerusalem), which Washington last year officially recognized as Israel's capital.
"Given the circumstances, there is no doubt that these vicious attacks and killings were deliberate and planned. These criminal acts took place with total impunity given to the Israeli regime by the United States in this council," he added.
Destroying Yemen’s Infrastructure
Khoshroo also censured Riyadh's brutal military intervention in Yemen, saying that it has wreaked havoc on an already impoverished Arab state.
The Saudi-led aggression has claimed thousands of innocent lives, in particular women and children, and destroyed Yemen's civilian infrastructure including hospitals, schools, roads, food factories and power plants, he said.
"Blocking humanitarian access to an already famine-stricken nation has further worsened the humanitarian nightmare in Yemen, leading to the most catastrophic humanitarian situation the world has seen for decades."
This aggression continues under the watch of the UN Security Council, the diplomat complained, adding that this inhumane war has the full military, logistical and training support of the United States.
Citing a recent UN report, Khoshroo said at least 26,000 civilians were killed last year as the result of armed conflicts in only six countries, namely Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Yemen.
"The international community urgently needs to end these conflicts and prevent new ones from erupting for the sake of the millions of civilians who are suffering around the world," he concluded.
