Araqchi: Vetoed anti-Iran UN Resolution Another Defeat for US

A senior Iranian diplomat says Russia’s vote against a United Nations draft resolution aimed at pressuring Iran over alleged missiles provision to Yemeni forces represented another setback for the United States, According to Press TV.

Russia on Monday vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council, presented by Britain and strongly backed by the United States, that would call for “additional measures” against Iran over accusations that it violated the 2015 arms embargo on Yemen.

 The draft resolution gained 11 favorable votes at the 15-member Security Council but was blocked by Russia’s veto. China and Kazakhstan abstained, while Bolivia also voted against the measure.

A group of so-called independent United Nations experts monitoring the sanctions on Yemen reported to the Security Council in January that it had “identified missile remnants, related military equipment and military unmanned aerial vehicles that are of Iranian origin and were brought into Yemen after the imposition of the targeted arms embargo.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi rejected the “spiteful” allegations.

“Based on a one-sided report, they intended to pass a resolution that also referred to Iran, but they failed,” Araqchi said.

“This is yet another failure by the US government to drag Iran to the Security Council,” he added.

“Over the past year, the US government has on many occasions tried to once again drag Iran to the Security Council and it has failed every single time and this is another sign of the US isolation on the international scene and the strength of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the senior Iranian diplomat pointed out.

He emphasized that the “biased accusations” were absolutely clear in the way the report was formulated by the UN panel.

 He said the UN experts had “made their own judgment even before travelling to Iran to discuss and hear our comments.”

It was clear how others had influenced the report, Araqchi added.

 “We will definitely continue our policies in the region in a way that will meet the country’s interests,” he said.

Anti-Iran Allegations Childish Scenario to Acquit Yemen’s Aggressors: FM Spokesman

In the same context, the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi dismissed claims that Iran supplies missiles to Yemen as an amateurish scenario.

In a Tuesday statement, Qassemi referred to the concerns expressed by the British and French foreign ministers over Iran’s missile program as ‘baseless’ allegations that lack any logical justification, Tasnim News Agency reported.

“As repeatedly announced, based on our military doctrine and invaluable experiences gained from the eight-year imposed war on defenseless people of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran has developed its missile program as a preemptive measure and deterrence against another aggression by expansionist powers.

 “In pursuit of its defense program, which is completely consistent with the international law, ‘Iran does not accept any foreign meddling (in its internal affairs), deems such stances (towards its missile program) as unprincipled, irresponsible and ambiguous’, and vehemently condemns them.”

The spokesman also refuted any accusation that Iran sends missile to Yemen. “We have already responded to this false, baseless and unsubstantiated claim many times. We have to emphasize that Yemeni army and Popular Committees don’t need foreign weaponry aid.”

Qassemi said Yemeni people’s defense of their country’s dignity and sovereignty using minimum facilities is the main cause of the failure and defeat of the aggressive powers’ attack on the country.

“All states, including the aggressors, know this fact very well that despite the tight blockade imposed on Yemeni people, who are suffering from famine and severe livelihood as well as many chronic diseases, they have resisted fiercely to the airstrikes conducted by Saudi Arabia’s warplanes on a daily basis while they are even deprived of basic needs and medicines,” he added.

Qassemi underlined that amid such a situation, the claim that Iran is sending missiles to Yemen is “a childish, naive and false scenario which cannot contribute at all to efforts to acquit the aggressors of the country.”

The spokesman further called for an immediate halt to the arms sale by the US and European countries to Saudi Arabia and other aggressive and war-mongering states in the region, saying they use the weapons to kill tens of defenseless men, women and children in Yemen on a daily basis who are suffering from a growing poverty and insecurity day by day.

H.M