Unofficial translation

 

Dear Madam President,

The Russian Federation expresses its serious concern over the dangerous escalation of tensions in the Middle East, which could have the most adverse impact on the activities of our forum.

First of all, on behalf of the Russian Federation, please allow me to express deep condolences to the leadership and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the numerous casualties, including among civilians, as a result of the Israeli strikes.

We condemn the military actions undertaken by the State of Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran, launched on the night of June 13 in violation of the UN Charter and international law. We are convinced that targeted strikes against civilian objects of a sovereign State, including peaceful nuclear facilities, cannot be justified. The international community cannot and must not remain indifferent to such actions.

Recent events eloquently prove that a deliberate decision has been made by West Jerusalem in favour of further escalation of tensions. The Russian side has repeatedly warned of the counterproductive and harmful nature of such military adventures, which not only pose a direct threat to stability and security in the region, but are also fraught with a large-scale nuclear catastrophe.

Madam President,

We are particularly concerned that Israel carried out its attacks in the midst of a session of the IAEA Board of Governors on Iranian nuclear programme and just before another round of indirect contacts between Iranian and U.S. representatives on this topic. This jeopardized years of multilateral efforts aimed at reducing confrontation and finding solutions that would eliminate any prejudice and speculation about Iran’s peaceful atom.

The responsibility for the possible consequences of yet another military adventure lies not only with the leadership of the State of Israel, but also with its closest allies. The current state of affairs in the region is a consequence of the complicity of the States of the “collective West”, which deliberately and methodically promoted anti-Iranian hysteria on specialized international platforms, including the UN Security Council, the IAEA Board of Governors, meetings in the framework of the NPT review process and the Conference on Disarmament.

A blatant example of such irresponsible steps by Western countries is their orchestrated anti-Iranian demarches in the IAEA Board of Governors. We are convinced that the resolution submitted at their initiative, which, for obvious reasons, did not receive universal support, was dictated by the political prescriptions of a narrow group of States and, to our deep regret, only contributed to the current tragedy.

In that regard, it should be noted that the large-scale anti-Iran campaign was launched despite Tehran’s strict compliance with its obligations under the NPT and the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA. Iran remains the most rigorously inspected State by the Agency, and the reports of the IAEA Secretariat are unequivocal about the absence of proliferation risks

I would like to emphasize in particular that the resolution of the situation around the Iranian nuclear programme, as well as of the current crisis, does not and cannot be resolved by military means and must be achieved exclusively through peaceful, political and diplomatic efforts.

Madam President,

Unfortunately, despite constructive efforts of our country and those of some other States, the situation is now developing according to the most negative and unpredictable scenario, which could have dire consequences not only for the Middle East but also for the entire world. Now, more than ever, the international community must provide an unambiguous legal and political assessment of Israel’s actions, as well as support all diplomatic efforts aimed at reducing the degree of confrontation and returning to negotiations.

In this context, we should like to recall the telephone conversations that took place on June 13 between the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin, and the President of Iran, Mr. M. Pezeshkian, and the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu. During these conversations, President V.Putin indicated that Russia consistently supports efforts to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme in a peaceful manner, putting forward concrete initiatives aimed at reaching mutually acceptable agreements. At the same time, the President of Russia expressed readiness to provide mediation to prevent further escalation of tensions, and also reaffirmed the commitment of our State to continue to promote a de-escalation of the conflict as a whole.

We urge the parties to exercise restraint in order to prevent further deterioration of the situation, an escalation of confrontation and a descent into full-scale war.

Thank you for your attention.