Outrage As Iran Chairs UN Disarmament Conference
Iran's chairmanship of the UN Conference on Disarmament sparked outrage on Monday, as activists and US lawmakers expressed concerns about the erosion of trust in the international body.
Iran's chairmanship of the UN Conference on Disarmament sparked outrage on Monday, as activists and US lawmakers expressed concerns about the erosion of trust in the international body.
The 2024 session of the conference began in Geneva in late January and will continue till mid September. The Presidency of the conference rotates among its member states in alphabetical order, each member holding office for four weeks.
Iran took over from Indonesia o March 18 amid harsh criticism over its non-compliance with the demands and rulings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“Why does @UN_Disarmament think that it’s a good idea to allow the Islamic Republic of Iran to preside over negotiations on arms control and disarmament agreements,” Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna asked on X. “The Islamic regime’s history and continuous breaches of nuclear agreements go against the very purpose of the conference. It’s disgusting that the UN is continuing to legitimize the Mollah’s murderous regime.”
This is not the first time the United Nations is criticized for handing leadership positions, symbolic or inconsequential as those may be, to representatives of the regime in Tehran.
In November 2023, Iran's envoy was picked to chair a UN human rights council meeting in Geneva, not more than a few months after the brutal crackdown of widespread protests now known as Women, Life, Freedom movement. The US envoy boycotted that meeting, calling the appointment an "affront to the collective conscience of the global community".
Following that example, on Monday, campaigners led by the Swiss-based NGO, UN Watch, called on member states to boycott the plenary Tuesday when Iran’s envoy “take the gavel”.
“We urge all world leaders to STOP legitimizing a radical regime that sponsors terrorism around the globe, kills its own people for protesting for their human rights, and is racing to build a nuclear bomb to threaten the world,” campaigners wrote in their petition –which gathered more than 13,000 signatures before the morning plenary Tuesday.
Iran typically dismisses all such criticism as “enemy offensive” against the “holy Islamic system.” All such appointments at UN bodies –even if a matter of pure formality– are met by glee in Tehran and trumpeted with pride on media platforms.
“Western appeasement of Iran, especially in assuming this role, only serves to degrade the institution and its efforts,” said Congressman Mike Gallagher in a statement issued Monday, “Iran should be prohibited from occupying this post, and banned from holding any leadership role in the international community, especially any to do with weapons of mass destruction.”
Iran has been stockpiling highly enriched uranium (at 60%) for some time, according to the IAEA, whose experts have said enriching at such levels cannot be explained outside a weapons program. The issue is coupled by lack of transparency and restrictions set by Iran on International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors on the ground.
Earlier this month, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned about being blinded to Iran’s nuclear activities. “The Agency has lost continuity of knowledge in relation to [Iran’s] production and inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and uranium ore concentrate,” he said.
US Congressman and House Majority Whip, Tom Emmer, pointed this out Monday, condemning the appointment. “Today, the UN Conference on Disarmament begins with Iran serving as its Chair –a country brazenly pursuing nuclear weapons,” he posted on X, “The decision to reward Iran with a leadership position only further degrades the UN’s legitimacy and its ability to uphold global peace.”
Gholam-Ali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi, a former lawmaker from the northern city of Rasht, questioned why candidates with judicial clearance were rejected from running in the parliamentary election, while others caught in illegal activities were approved by the Guardian Council's arbitrary vetting process.
Imanabadi charged in an interview with Rouydad24 website that the biased vetting of the candidates has led to the formation of the weakest parliament in the Islamic Republic’s 45-year history, and the coming to power of the weakest President.
The Guardian Council is a constitutional body supposed to approve candidates to make sure their beliefs and conduct do not violate the basic tenets of Islamic laws. However, in recent years, the body controlled by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has become capricious, rejecting former senior regime officials and anyone whose complete loyalty is in any doubt.
Imanabadi also raised concerns about the consistency of the Guardian Council's decisions. When questioned about the rejection of former Majles Speaker Ali Larijani's qualification in the 2021 presidential election due to his daughter living abroad, contrasting with the approval of incumbent Majles Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf despite his son's overseas residency, Guardian Council Spokesperson Tahan Nazif stated: "Every election has its own criteria. However, no candidate has ever been disqualified solely on the basis of his family's situation."
However, the Guardian Council had officially cited Larijani's daughter's residence abroad as the reason for his disqualification. Imanabadi noted that as Larijani's daughter is a married woman, her situation should not affect her father's eligibility. He further queried: "How can a man who has led the legislative body for 12 years lack qualifications?"
Meanwhile, referring to Ghalibaf's case and corruption charges against him, Imanabadi said that any other candidate with one fifth of the problems Ghalibaf has, would have never gotten through the Guardian Council's vetting. He added that there were other candidates who got through although had been convicted or were involved in unethical corruption cases.
He charged that the Guardian Council wants only ultraconservative "yes men" for the parliament. Imanabadi further said that the Guardian Council's decisions on qualifications is politically motivated.
Similar questions have also been raised about the Guardian Council's verdict about the Assembly of Experts candidates' disqualifications of senior politicians including former President Hassan Rouhani.
Rouhani's former chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi said in an interview with the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) on Monday that Rouhani was informed about his disqualification through a telephone call from the Guardian Council. Rouhani who is an incumbent member of the Assembly has repeatedly called for explanations for his disqualification, but the Guardian Council has left all of his inquiries unanswered.
Vaezi refuted the Guardian Council's claim about Rouhani's representative having been briefed on the reasons of his disqualification, adding that the former President has never sent a representative to the Guardian Council. He added that the claim about Rouhani's representative was made only after Rouhani sent four letters to the Council.
The complaints made by Rouhani is not the only ones sent to the Guardian Council. On Monday, the IRGC announced on Telegram that the Guardian Council has received more than 7,000 complaints about the elections just from the three cities.
The IRGC's Telegram channel explained that the complaints made from Andimeshk were about scaring the voters and election officials on the voting day, serious assault and battery against voters including women, fighting at polling stations, thugs preventing people from voting, attacks on private vehicles, throwing stones at people's houses, distorting ballot papers, and early victory announcements. However, the IRGC's Telegram channel did not elaborate on the outcome of those complaints.