Statement by Ambassador Vassily A. Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at the Security Council meeting on the Iranian nuclear programme
I would like to thank Under-SecretaryGeneral DiCarlo for her briefing on the latest report of the Secretary-General (S/2018/1089) on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), which endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on Iran’s nuclear programme.
We also note the effective work carried out by Ambassador van Oosterom, the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands, in his capacity as Security Council Facilitator for the implementation of the resolution. We fully share the Secretary-General’s assessment in the report that the decision of the United States to withdraw from the JCPOA and reimpose unilateral sanctions on Iran constitutes a serious challenge that does not contribute to the goals outlined in the JCPOA and resolution 2231 (2015).
We join the SecretaryGeneral’s general call to ensure the preservation of a unique agreement of fundamental importance to international and regional security. We agree with the report’s conclusion that issues not included in the scope of the agreement should not serve as a reason for dismantling it.
The Russian Federation has repeatedly warned against attempts to torpedo the JCPOA and expressed the hope that reason will prevail nonetheless and that issues of global security and stability will no longer be held hostage to domestic political processes. Unfortunately, our calls have not been heard. We are now faced with a paradoxical situation in which a Council member is not only openly refusing to implement resolution 2231 (2015), which it had itself endorsed, it is also trying to punish every other Member State for implementing the decisions of the Council and the Joint Commission of the JCPOA.
Right now, the only way to preserve the agreement is through the conscientious implementation of their voluntary commitments by all its participating States. In that context, we should point out that the Secretary General’s report presents clear evidence of Iran’s unconditional compliance with its JCPOA obligations, which has been consistently confirmed not only by the International Atomic Energy Agency but also by the Secretariat, which, as the document testifies, has no verified data to the contrary. We are once again obliged to remind the Council of the inadmissibility of any so-called investigations by the Secretariat of possible violations of resolution 2231 (2015) without a clear mandate from the Security Council.
Let us leave aside the level of technical expertise of the representatives of the Secretariat, who on a basis of components and debris find it easy to opine on the tactical and technical characteristics of various types of missiles and hint at their Iranian origin. Legitimate questions arise as to the mandate of those specialists, the status of their visits and their authority to draw far-reaching conclusions.
The attempts to use the authority of the United Nations to reinforce various countries’ unfounded accusations that Iran is in violation of resolution 2231 (2105) are baffling. And yet the Secretariat’s representatives themselves admit in the report that they were working exclusively with information provided to them by third countries.
Any inspections or monitoring activities by the Secretariat that have not been agreed to, whatever the reasons for them, must end once and for all. We continue to insist that the report should not contain information from open sources or references to unverified or deliberately unverifiable information provided by individual countries, especially when it is not brought to Council members’ attention. We want to once again draw the Secretariat’s attention to the fact that paragraph 7 of the note by the President dated 16 January 2016 (S/2016/44) provides for the preparation of semi-annual reports on the implementation of the resolution 2231 (2015) in its entirety, not its individual parts.
Today we have heard a great deal about ballistic missiles. We would like to remind the Council that paragraph 3 of annex B of resolution 2231 (2015) only calls on Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Rocket launchers generally are not prohibited, and there is no evidence supporting the possibility that they might have nuclear components.
The withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA has seriously damaged both the nuclear-non-proliferation regime and security interests in the Middle East as a whole. It is time to abandon unilateral action. History shows that it is doomed to failure. And contrariwise, when States genuinely unite their efforts to counter regional challenges they can achieve long-lasting results in terms of resolving crises and stabilizing situations.
We consider the JCPOA just such an achievement. It has become a keystone of our joint work in the region to create conditions conducive to strengthening an overall atmosphere of trust. It has given rise to hopes of progress towards the realization of an important goal, the creation of a zone in the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction. Russia supports the preservation of the JCPOA.
We urge for a rejection of efforts to artificially create situations in which some Member States label the Governments of others as rogues. Not only does that not help to solve the region’s many problems, it creates many new ones. It is clear that if we are to reduce the potential for crisis we must bring international and regional efforts together, including in the framework of effective, inclusive formats where the United Nations and its Security Council play a central role.
With enviable predictability, many of our Council colleagues are trying to use the format of today’s meeting to discuss Iran’s so-called regional behaviour, which is presented as being virtually the exclusive source of all the Middle East’s troubles. However, and despite the fact that Iran is prepared for that dialogue, they have produced no substantive proposals of any kind in that regard. At times one gets the impression that their only goal is to further intensify anti-Iranian hysteria and Iran’s demonization, which in fact serve merely to aggravate the already difficult situation in the Middle East.
The Russian Federation supports developing a positive and unifying agenda on the Middle East for the Security Council and the entire international community that takes into account the legitimate interests of all the States of the region, including Iran. The cornerstone of our shared efforts in the region should be the creation of conditions conducive to strengthening a general atmosphere of trust.
That is extremely important to the relations between the Arab States, Israel and Iran. We would like to remind members that in its resolution 598 (1988), the Security Council instructed the SecretaryGeneral to work with regional parties on measures for strengthening security and stability in the region. This is a difficult issue, but work on it must begin. And we are ready to provide every possible assistance through our contacts with our regional partners.
The ultimate goal should be the establishment of a regional security architecture that is truly inclusive and presupposes the involvement of every State in that part of the world. Our concept for strengthening security in the Persian Gulf under international guarantees remains relevant and could begin to be implemented through a conference with the participation of the States of the subregion. In the future, such a conference could be expanded to include other Middle Eastern countries.
Russia is ready to work on all of these aspects and more, with interested partners, openly and impartially, and without threats or negative pressure. In conclusion, I want to note once again that the Russian Federation remains committed to the unconditional and comprehensive implementation of the provisions of resolution 2231 (2015) and the JCPOA, which continues to be implemented by all its other participants despite the withdrawal of the United States.
