Right of Reply: Response to Israeli Regime's Accusations

The following is the full text of the statement delivered by a representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran in response to accusations raised by the notorious prime minister of the Israeli regime during an address to the UN General Assembly:

Right of Reply by

Mr. Nasser Assadi Nazari

Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran

In Response to Accusations by the Israeli Regime’s Prime Minister

United Nations General Assembly

27 September 2024 – New York

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

Mr. President,

I take the floor to exercise the right of reply of my delegation in response to the statement made today by the representative of the Israeli regime. What you heard here today from the notorious Israeli Prime Minister, was nothing but an unsuccessful attempt to distract attention away from his genocide and brutal war crimes.

To date, in Gaza alone, he has brutally massacred more than 42,000 civilians -mostly women and children - wounded 93,000 other civilians, destroyed critical civilian infrastructures, and demolished schools, hospitals and mosques.

He has even repeatedly killed an unprecedented number of journalists and UN staff and attacked many UN relief centers. He brutally has used starvation as a method of war.

Making unfounded accusations against regional countries, including my own, has long been a standard practice of the Israeli regime. Its exclusive purpose is to conceal its blatant crimes and brutalities in the region.

Obviously, no amount of disinformation, fabrication and lies can cover up this regime’s decades-long criminal practices and wicked and warmongering policies.

Mr. President,

The extent, frequency and gravity of the barbaric crimes of the Israeli regime in Palestine and now in Lebanon is unprecedented. These brutalities have all elements of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Israeli forces commit all such crimes on a daily basis, repeatedly and concurrently in front of the eyes of all of humanity. They turned Gaza into a graveyard of children and hell on earth as has been said by UN officials.

The apartheid-occupying regime of Israel is now waging an all-out war of aggression against Lebanon. It has targeted civilians, mostly women, children and the elderly, and attacked civilian infrastructures.

Moreover, the deliberate targeting of civilians in Lebanon by detonating pagers, and other electronic devices across the country, was a blatant terrorist act committed by the Israeli regime.

This evil practice is the most outrageous manifestation of weaponizing ordinary communication devices to commit terrorist acts and to harm civilians. This adventuristic act of terrorism must sound a warning bell for the entire international community.

This new version of terrorism must be condemned unequivocally by all. If unchecked, the Israeli regime will commit terrorist acts in other countries using such devices. They must therefore be compelled to stop such acts of terrorism everywhere.

Mr. President,

The evil regime of Israel is the exclusive source of insecurity and instability in the region and beyond. Continued aggressions and crimes of this regime in Palestine and Lebanon continue to seriously threaten regional and international peace and security.

Its aggression against Lebanon could not be isolated from the overall situation in the region. The Zionist regime’s real and ill-intended objective is to drag the entire region into a full-scale war. The military adventurism of this criminal regime must be stopped before it becomes too late.

For this terrorist regime, international humanitarian and human rights law, binding orders of the International Court of Justice, as well as the principle of humanity mean nothing. It has persistently and flagrantly violated all Principles of the United Nations and therefore does not deserve the membership of this Organization.

The atrocity crimes and genocide committed by this occupying apartheid regime must not go unpunished. Impunity would only continue to embolden this regime to persist in its patterns of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide and to commit more crimes more brutally.

The international community, the United Nations and the Security Council must take their responsibilities seriously, and do whatever in their power to stop destabilizing policies and illegal practices of the Israeli regime in the volatile region of West Asia.

This regime must also be held accountable for all such inhumane policies and unlawful practices and as our foreign minister told before the Security Council, Netanyahu and his criminal gang must have been arrested and prosecuted for the most heinous crimes, not to let him appear before this august body and take pride in his evil deeds.

Inaction to prevent the brutalities of this rogue aggressive regime - that has already crossed all red lines - will further embolden it to pursue further crimes. This must be avoided.

We once again strongly condemn and categorically reject the heinous attacks of the rogue regime of Israel against Palestine, Lebanon and other regional countries. We also reiterate our full support for the realization of the inalienable right to self-determination of the Palestinian people.

Under international law, Palestinians have an absolute right to resist occupation and aggression using all available means. We also fully support the inherent right to self-defense of all regional nations against the aggressions of the Israeli regime.

As we have said time and again, the path to de-escalation is clear: Israel must be compelled to stop immediately and permanently all its attacks on Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and other parts of the region.

In response to saber-rattling and threats made today by the Israeli regime’s representative, I must stress that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to vigorously defend its territory, people and vital interests. Obviously, and in exercising our inherent right to self-defense, we will do it in time and the manner we choose.

Mr. President,

The Israeli regime’s representative has also made an unsuccessful attempt to falsely portray our nuclear program as a source of concern. Iran’s nuclear program has always been and will remain exclusively for peaceful purposes.

In fact, the real source of serious threat is the clandestine nuclear-weapons program of the Israeli regime and its nuclear weapon arsenals. To avert this dangerous threat to regional and international peace and security, the Israeli regime must be compelled to abandon its nuclear weapons, join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty promptly and unconditionally, and place all its nuclear activities and facilities under the comprehensive safeguards of the IAEA.