NEW YORK – President of the United Nations Security Council Harold Adlai Agyeman has distanced himself from a U.S.-led push, saying the council will not hold a session on the human rights situation in Iran, IRNA reported on Wednesday.
He made the remarks in response to the IRNA correspondent’s question regarding the U.S., attempt to hold a session on Iran’s internal affairs.
Agyeman noted that the issue of the Iran nuclear agreement (JCPOA) is discussed in the Security Council, but the situation in Iran is not reviewed by the Security Council.
He noted said the sessions are not technically categorized as Security Council meetings.
“We follow the issue of Iran only at the national level and consider it within the framework of Iran’s sovereignty,” IRNA quoted him as saying.
Earlier, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saied Iravani described the planned Arria-formula meeting entitled “Ongoing Protests in Iran” as a dangerous precedent.
“The U.S. has no true and genuine concern about the human rights situation in Iran or elsewhere,” he said in a letter to all ambassadors and permanent representatives of the UN member and observer states on Monday.
He called the recent protests in Iran an internal issue, warning that it would be “counterproductive to the promotion of human rights” if the UN Security Council discussed it.
“The United States lacks the political, moral, and legal qualifications to hold such a meeting, distorting the very basic principles of human rights,” Iravani said.