Iran’s Leader slams US for vetoing Gaza cease-fire resolution
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei denounced the US for “brazenly vetoing” a UN Security Council resolution to stop the ongoing Israeli genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The third US veto of a Security Council resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza revealed “the lies of Western civilization’s claims about human rights and the hypocrisy of Westerners in the Gaza issue”, the Leader said Saturday, Press TV reported.
The US vetoed a draft UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution on Israel’s war on Gaza, prompting widespread criticism from rivals and allies alike.
The move on Tuesday was the third US veto of a UNSC resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, and came a day after Washington circulated a resolution that would support a temporary cease-fire linked to the release of all Israeli captives from the Palestinian territory.
“The Westerners, who make noise and uproar for the execution of a criminal, have turned a blind eye to the killing of 30,000 innocent people in Gaza, and the US has brazenly vetoed the resolution to stop bombing Gaza for the umpteenth time,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
“This is the true face of Western culture and civilization and liberal democracy, which on the surface, there are spruced-up politicians with smiles on their faces, but inside, it is a rabid dog and a bloodthirsty wolf,” he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei likened Western civilization to a “lopsided load that will not reach home”, but “the culture of the righteous and correct logic of Islam will prevail”.
The US veto of the UN resolution drew criticisms from many countries.
Zhang Jun, China’s envoy to the UN, expressed “strong disappointment and dissatisfaction” with the US.
“The US veto sends a wrong message, pushing the situation in Gaza into a more dangerous one,” said Zhang, adding that objection to a ceasefire in Gaza is “nothing different from giving the green light to the continued slaughter”.
Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said the US veto marked “another black page in the history of the Security Council”.
He accused the US of trying to play for time so that Israel could complete its “inhumane plans” for Gaza, namely to squeeze the Palestinians out of the territory and completely “cleanse” the territory.
France’s UN envoy Nicolas de Riviere expressed regret that the resolution “could not be adopted, given the disastrous situation” in Gaza.
Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told Al Jazeera that the US veto was “very regrettable”.
“Call it whatever, humanitarian, describe it as you wish, but immediate cease-fire, as requested by the secretary-general of the UN, and almost all humanitarian agencies of the United Nations, and a massive number of countries in the General Assembly,” he said.