Statement by

H.E. Ms. Zahra Ershadi

Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative

of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

Before the United Nations Security Council

On “The situation in the Middle East: (Syria – Humanitarian)”

New York, 27 January 2022

 In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Madam President,

The relatively calm situation in Syria in 2021 has allowed for further safe and dignified return of refugees and displaced persons as well as accelerated reconstruction efforts.

Yet, the sufferings of the Syrian people still continue and the alleviation of their anguish requires further efforts in different areas. Obviously, nothing is more important and urgent than ensuring Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. This can be done through ending the occupation of Syria and the aggressions of the Israeli regime against Syria, confronting threats posed by the terrorists as well as removing unlawful inhumane sanctions against the Syrian people.

Concurrently, the ongoing activities for the effective implementation of resolution 2585, particularly with respect to “water, sanitation, health, education, and shelter early recovery projects”, must be redoubled and accelerated.

We fully support the call by the UNSG for “further expanding early recovery efforts” in Syria, and share his view that such efforts “are critical to the continued success of the humanitarian response in the country”.

In this context, the guarantors of the Astana format, in their meeting last December, called for the “improvement of the humanitarian situation in Syria”, and accordingly, urged the international community, the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies, to enhance their assistance to the whole of Syria through “early recovery and resilience projects”.

As the UNSG has rightly stated, such activities are key in “preventing a further increase in the number of people in need, as well as reducing immediate and protracted humanitarian needs”, and “therefore reducing dependence on external assistance.”

Serious efforts are also needed for the removal of unilateral sanctions imposed on Syria. These unlawful measures have prolonged the sufferings of the people and adversely affected the work of international and national humanitarian agencies there.

Given the dire humanitarian needs in Syria, where, according to UN reports, “significant parts of the civilian infrastructure have been destroyed or are disintegrating”, the Security Council must seriously push for the full, balanced, and effective implementation of resolution 2585.

Resolution 2858 has been adopted with the aim of “addressing the urgent needs” of the people of Syria, “a country in a situation of complex humanitarian emergency”, as stated by the resolution. This has yet to happen. At the same time, the Syrian people are in fact the ones who should practically feel, and accordingly confirm, the usefulness of this resolution and the full realization of its objectives.

We call for an increase in funding and allocation of humanitarian aid to cross-line operations in Syria.

It is extremely disappointing that, due to the lack of cooperation by other sides, the progress on the cross-line operations in areas not controlled by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, is much lower than expected.

It is also important to ensure that the aid entered into Syria through cross-border operations reaches the actual beneficiaries and does not fall into the hands of terrorist groups.

In 2021, the release of 10 Syrian detainees which was facilitated by the working group on the release of detainees, established by the Astana format, was a positive development, which must continue in 2022 in a larger scale. Iran will continue to contribute to such efforts, and urges all parties to cooperate in advancing this noble humanitarian objective.

We call for the facilitation of safe, voluntary and dignified return of the Syrian refugees and IDPs, and at the same time, warn about attempts to discourage them from returning home, including by disseminating inaccurate information about current conditions in Syria.

I thank you, Madam President.