S/2017/68 - Letter from Iran regarding the circulation by the United Kingdom of a letter of an entity engaged in crimes and violence in Syria.

United Nations
Security Council

S/2017/68

Distr.: General
25 January 2017
Original: English

Letter dated 24 January 2017 from the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

Upon instructions from my Government, and with reference to the letter dated 13 January 2017 from the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/2017/39), requesting the circulation of the letter of an entity engaged in crimes and violence in Syria, I wish to bring the following to your attention:

Sending such letters is nothing but taking sides with those terrorists in the Wadi Barada region, the main water source for Damascus, who are trying to destroy key infrastructure and use water as a war tactic in order to put pressure on and suffocate the capital city. As a result of this inhumane practice, which is in clear violation of international humanitarian law, millions of civilians who are living in the capital city have been left without water for weeks. This horrifying fact does not seem to bother the author of the above-mentioned letter. Iran has always condemned the use of such tactics by anyone, anywhere, and has always declared its objection towards such practices.

The very act of submitting such baseless propaganda against a United Nations Member State by another United Nations Member State and circulating it as a United Nations document runs counter to the very purposes and principles of the United Nations.

This act also amounts to misusing an established practice at the United Nations and employing it in the service of spreading lies and distorting facts, which can only serve short-sighted political interests and narrow agendas.

It is imperative that all United Nations Member States, especially the permanent members of the Security Council, adopt a responsible and serious approach to focus on terrorism and extremism as the real challenges that jeopardize peace and security in the region.

I should be grateful if you would have the present letter circulated as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed) Gholamali Khoshroo
Ambassador
Permanent Representative

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25Jan17

Letter from Iran regarding the circulation by the United Kingdom of a letter of an entity engaged in crimes and violence in Syria