First VP says aggression against Iran threatens foundations of Int’l legal order
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said on Tuesday that the 40-day military aggression against Iran was not merely an attack on the Islamic Republic but a direct assault on the foundations of the international legal order and the principle of sovereign equality of states.
Speaking at a meeting of prime ministers of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tajikistan, Aref said the international system was facing unprecedented threats in a turbulent period marked by unilateralism and the pursuit of dominance by a handful of countries.
Over the past two years, the region and the wider world had witnessed major challenges, including unprecedented, overt and brazen violations of fundamental human values, international law and the UN Charter by the United States and Israel, he said. These actions had placed peace, security and the achievements of the international community over recent decades at serious risk of destruction, Aref added.
Iran had again come under a military aggression by the United States and Israel in February, in a move that directly violated the UN Charter, Aref said.
He said Iran had chosen dialogue and diplomacy, with negotiations to resolve outstanding disputes already under way, but came under “illegal and unjust” military attack.
The 40-day military assault went beyond an attack on Iran itself, Aref said, arguing that it had directly challenged the foundations of international law and the sovereign equality of states.
Strikes on civilian infrastructure, educational and university facilities, medical centers, economic installations and peaceful nuclear facilities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency are setting an extremely dangerous precedent, he said.
If such actions were allowed to go uncondemned by the international community, no country would be immune from their consequences, Aref warned.