CHOLPON ATA (Dispatches)
-- Iranian Foreign Minister 
Abbas Araghchi on Friday called on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to take a firm stand against unilateralism and defend the principles of international law, saying the bloc should become a leading voice for multilateralism and respect for state sovereignty.
Addressing the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting here in Kyrgyzstan, Araghchi said the bloc stands at “a decisive moment in the evolution of the international system.”
“The world is facing unprecedented challenges, including the expansion of unchecked unilateralism, the erosion of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, the unlawful use of force, the imposition of unilateral and excessive sanctions, and the instrumentalization of economic and financial mechanisms to exert political pressure,” he said.
Under such circumstances, the responsibility of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as one of the world’s most important transregional institutions encompassing a significant share of the global population, economy, energy resources and strategic capabilities, has become more important than ever, he added.
“This organization can and must become a strong voice in defense of multilateralism, respect for national sovereignty, the equality of states, and the rule of law in international relations,” Araghchi said.
The minister noted that attacks on schools, hospitals, civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision, if left unanswered by the international community, would “leave no country immune from similar acts.”
“Perhaps the most painful development after the commission of such crimes is the attempt to normalize them. Contemporary experience has shown that crime, if met with silence, ambiguity or indifference by the international community, will not only fail to stop but will become a model for repetition,” Araghchi said.
“Responsibility for such crimes does not rest solely with their direct perpetrators,” he said. 
“Any political, military or intelligence support for the aggressors, and even silence or ambiguous positions in the face of such blatant violations of international law, will weaken the rule of law and encourage the perpetrators to repeat such unlawful conduct.”
Araghchi said the attacks against Iran represent not merely a threat to one country’s national security but a challenge to the legal principles underpinning the international order.
He said Iran exercised its inherent

 right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter while maintaining that the country has never initiated a war and remains committed to dialogue, diplomacy, good-neighborliness and regional cooperation.
Araghchi said sustainable peace requires replacing aggression, occupation, threats and double standards with mutual respect, impartial implementation of international law and genuine adherence to international commitments.
Just few weeks after inking the Islamabad Memorandum to end the war on June 17, the U.S. “has once again demonstrated that it does not abide by its commitments,” noted the minister.
“The blatant violation of the provisions of this memorandum, attacks on transportation infrastructure, drinking water facilities, fishing boats, local commercial vessels, meteorological centers and other civilian infrastructure constitute clear violations of international law and international humanitarian law and a vivid example of the continued policy of resorting to force and disregard for international obligations,” he added.
Araghchi maintained that “the direct intervention of the United States in implementing the security and maritime arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz and the reimposition of a naval blockade once again endangered the security of one of the world’s most important strategic waterways and disrupted the normal flow of international commercial shipping.”
The experience of recent months has clearly shown that security in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz can be guaranteed “not through the presence and intervention of extra-regional forces, but through cooperation among regional countries, mutual respect and shared responsibility,” he added.
Reiterating Iran’s determination to defend its sovereignty, Araghchi emphasized that “any participation, cooperation or assistance in committing aggression against Iran will entail international responsibility for the parties concerned.”
“In accordance with international law, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its right to take all necessary measures within the framework of legitimate self-defense and will regard the source of any aggression against the Iranian nation as a legitimate target of defensive measures by its armed forces,” he said.
Araghchi urged SCO members to stand together in defense of international law and reject the replacement of diplomacy with force.
He said the organization should be at the forefront of efforts to uphold the rule of law, sovereign equality, respect for national independence and the dignity of nations, arguing that only through such unity can a more secure, stable and just international order be achieved.