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Full text of Iran's letter of complaint to the UN over US threats of nuclear war

Mohammad Khazaee | 15.04.2010 12:33 | Anti-militarism | Anti-racism | Other Press | World

In his latest statement, President Obama has violated the Charter of the United Nations (UN) by openly threatening Iran with an imminent nuclear attack. In response, Iran submitted an official letter of complaint to the United Nations.

Pentagon's "Nuclear Posture Review Report" (April 2010)
Pentagon's "Nuclear Posture Review Report" (April 2010)



Editorial note:

Iran’s UN ambassador Mohammad Khazaee called for the Security Council and other UN related bodies to show serious opposition to the US President’s nuclear policies and his threat against an NPT signatory which does not hold nuclear weapon.

Following the US President Barack Obama’s remarks that America will not restrict conditions of using nuclear weapons against Iran and North Korea, Khazaee sent a letter to the presidents of the UN Security Council Yukio Takasu and General Assembly Ali Treki and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and said threats of the US officials against Iran are inhuman and go against international rules and commitments.

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The full text of the letter follows:



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

No: 135 13 April 2010


Excellency,

On 6 April 2010 , the United States government published its Nuclear Posture Review [NPR] which outlines the U.S. nuclear strategy and policy, and among others, contains groundless allegations against the peaceful nuclear program of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Following the release of NPR, some high-ranking officials of the United States including the U.S. President and Secretaries of State and Defense, on the basis of wholly wrong assumption, have made public and implicit statements, threatening to use nuclear weapons against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

For instance, Secretary of Defense of the United States, in a news briefing held on 6 April 2010 at the Pentagon, asserted that “the NPR has a very strong message for Iran …, because whether it’s in declaratory policy or in other elements of the NPR, we essentially carve out states like Iran …. And basically all options are on the table when it comes to countries in that category”.

He added “so, if there is a message for Iran here, it is that… all options are on the table in terms of how we deal with you.”

In view of these developments, I would like to draw your kind attention to the following points:

1- Such inflammatory statements which are tantamount to nuclear blackmail against a non-nuclear-weapon State signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) constitute a serious violation of the United States obligations and commitment, under international law, particularly Article 2 (4) of the Charter of the United Nations and also the provisions of the Security Council resolution 984 (1995), to refrain from the threat or use of force against any State.

2- It is evident that these statements are not only declaration of intention but also part of official document which articulate the United States policy on first use of nuclear weapons, at its discretion, against a non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the NPT, and, therefore, pose a real threat to international peace and security and undermine the credibility of the NPT.

Such remarks by the U.S officials display once again the reliance of the U.S government on militarized approach to various issues, to which the threats of use of nuclear weapons are not a solution at all.

3- The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a victim of weapons of mass destruction in the recent history, is firmly committed to pursuing the realization of a world free from weapons of mass destruction, not only in words, but also by full implementation of three major legal instruments banning weapons of mass destruction, namely NPT, Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

In addition, the Islamic Republic of Iran has categorically and consistently rejected the development, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons on religious and constitutional grounds.

Iran's nuclear activities are, and always have been, for peaceful purposes.

4- After 40 years since the entry into force of the NPT, and while the U.S. officials are apparently advocating the nuclear non-proliferation, let’s not forget that the United States as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon against the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a result of which 200,000 people perished, continues to illegitimately designate a non-nuclear weapon State as target of its nuclear weapons and contemplates military plans accordingly.

In view of the above-mentioned points, members of the United Nations should not condone or tolerate such nuclear blackmail in 21st century, and should take resolute action to ensure the total elimination of all nuclear weapons as the only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.

In this regard, the United Nations and its relevant organs have a fundamental responsibility to strongly oppose the threat of use of nuclear weapons and to reject it.

It would be highly appreciated if this letter could be circulated as a document of the Security Council and that of the General Assembly, under agenda item 9, 82, 92, 93, 96 and 107.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.


Mohammad Khazaee

Ambassador

Permanent Representative


H.E. Mr. Takasu,

President of the Security Council

United Nations, New York


CC:

H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-Moon

Secretary General

United Nations, New York

H.E. Dr. Ali Abdussalam Treki

President of the General Assembly

United Nations, New York

Mohammad Khazaee
- Homepage: http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/9806

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CSIS report designates Turkey as the optimum route for a possible Israeli attack

15.04.2010 12:40




Once again, a CSIS report designates Turkey as the optimum route for a possible Israeli attack on Iran

[propaganda alert]



Three weeks before the US President Barack Obama’s visit to Ankara in April 2009, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) published a report which claimed that Turkey would be the optimum route for a possible Israeli attack on Iran.

A new CSIS report released in March 2010 makes exactly the same point.

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1) Once again, a CSIS report designates Turkey as the optimum route for a possible Israeli attack on Iran (23 March 2010)

2) Israeli army chief Gabi Ashkenazi visits Turkey to hold talks on Iran’s nuclear program (15 March 2010)

from the archives:

3) Pentagon offers Patriot anti-ballistic missiles to Turkey (September 2009)

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 http://csis.org/files/publication/100323_Options_todealwith_Iran.pdf


excerpts from: Options in Dealing with Iran’s Nuclear Program

by Anthony H. Cordesman and Abdullah Toukan, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), 23 March 2010


“We conclude that a military strike by Israel against Iranian Nuclear Facilities is possible and the optimum route would be along the Syrian-Turkish border then over a small portion of Iraq then into Iran, and back the same route. […]

The flight route [along Turkey’s border with Syria] would also be ideal for the F-15’s and the F-16’s to do aerial refueling from airborne tankers, on ingress and egress [i.e. entry and exit] from Iran. […] Refueling can [also] be done [on a] temporary landing strip, along the Syrian, Turkish and Northern Iraq region […]

Israel could again utilize its EW [Electronic Warfare] capabilities [to disable the air defense systems of Iran and Syria] as during the [bombing] raid [through Turkey’s airspace] on Dayr az-Zawr, Syria, on September, 2007. […]

If the Israeli aircraft do actually fly over Turkey that would constitute a clear Turkish – Israel and even U.S. conspiracy to attack Iran, so the Political risks could be high with Turkey. Operationally, […] the risk from Turkey could be of medium level if Turkey deems it necessary to react militarily.”


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 http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=171037


excerpts from: Ashkenazi holds security talks in Turkey

by Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post, 15 March 2010


[Israeli Army Chief] Gabi Ashkenazi flew to Ankara on Monday to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Gen. Ilker Basbug. […]

Ashkenazi discussed regional security issues with a focus on Iran’s nuclear program as well as the rearmament of Hizbullah in southern Lebanon. […]

“This visit is on the military-strategic level, not a diplomatic level. The Turks are not hiding it and neither are we,” [said Israel Defense Forces spokesman Avi Benayahu].


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from the archives:


 http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2009/Turkey_09-44.pdf


excerpt from: Turkey – PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 Guided Missiles

US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), 9 September 2009


“Today the [US] Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Turkey of 13 PATRIOT Fire Units, 72 PATRIOT Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles, four PAC-3 Lot Validation Missiles, 197 MIM-104E PATRIOT Guidance Enhanced Missiles-T (GEM-T), four MIM-104E GEM-T Lot Validation Missiles, five PATRIOT Digital Missiles, five Anti-Tactical Missiles and other related support and equipment. The estimated cost is $7.8 billion.”


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related links:


President Gul: Iran’s ultimate aspiration is to acquire nuclear weapons (29 March 2010)

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/turkey%E2%80%99s-president-gul-iran%E2%80%99s-ultimate-aspiration-is-to-acquire-nuclear-weapons/


NATO chief: Iran’s Shahab-3 missiles will put Turkey, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria within reach (27 March 2010)

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/03/27/nato-chief-weapons-of-mass-destruction-threat-is-real-and-growing/


US official: Turkey has international responsibilities that extend beyond its immediate neighbourhood (18 March 2010)

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/us-official-turkey-has-international-responsibilities-that-extend-beyond-its-immediate-neighbourhood/


Israeli army chief visits Turkey to hold talks on Iran’s nuclear program (16 March 2010)

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/israeli-army-chief-visits-turkey-to-hold-talks-on-iran%E2%80%99s-nuclear-program/


Israeli minister warns Turkey: Iran’s nuclear programme would pose a danger for the whole world (November 2009)

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/israeli-minister-to-turkey-iran%E2%80%99s-nuclear-programme-would-pose-a-danger-for-the-whole-world/


Pentagon offers Patriot missiles to Turkey (September 2009)

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/obama-president-bush-was-right-that-irans-ballistic-
missile-program-poses-a-significant-threat/


US Ambassador to Turkey: Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is a great danger to Turkey (June 2009)

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/us-ambassador-iran%E2%80%99s-pursuit-of-nuclear-weapons-is-a-great-danger-to-turkey/


Obama: No one in the Middle East is served by Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions, least of all Turkey (April 2009)

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/obama-irans-nuclear-and-ballistic-missile-activity-poses-a-real-threat-to-its-neighbors/

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dandelion salad
- Homepage: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/03/448407.html


NATO Chief: Weapons of Mass Destruction threat is real and growing

15.04.2010 16:30

NATO chief Rasmussen speaking at the Brussels Forum conference, 27 March 2010
NATO chief Rasmussen speaking at the Brussels Forum conference, 27 March 2010



“The threat of Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction” was the key argument of the relentless Anglo-American propaganda campaign in the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Seven years later, the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) points the finger at the next target by declaring that the threat of proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction “has remained largely abstract” until now, but it is “real and growing”.

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NATO Chief: Weapons of Mass Destruction threat is real and growing

[propaganda alert]



 http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-D6107D8E-02CBC541/natolive/opinions_62395.htm


excerpts from: Building a Euro-Atlantic Security Architecture

Speech by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the Brussels Forum conference on 27 March 2010

NATO website, 27 March 2010


“NATO invoked Article 5 (*) for the first time ever after the terrorist attacks of “9/11”. And it took the lead of the International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] in Afghanistan. […]

But terrorism is not the only manifestation of our new security environment. There are other threats that we need to guard against.

One of them is the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and their means of delivery. Up to now, that threat has remained largely abstract. But a look at current trends shows that the proliferation threat is real and growing […]

Iran is a case in point. […] Iran has gone far beyond what is necessary for a purely civilian [nuclear] programme. […]

Iran also has an extensive [ballistic] missile development programme. Statements from Iranian officials declare the range of their modified Shahab-3 [ballistic] missiles to be 2000 kilometres. That will already put [NATO-] Allied countries such as Turkey, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria within reach. […]

If Iran were to complete [the development of intermediate- and intercontinental range ballistic missiles] […] , then the whole of the European continent, as well as all of Russia, would be in range.

Proliferators [of Weapons of Mass Destruction] must know that we are unwavering in our determination to collective defence (*) . That includes nuclear deterrence.

But confronted with the spread of missile technology, and unpredictable regimes and leaders, we owe it to our populations to complement our [conventional and nuclear] deterrence capabilities with an effective [ballistic] missile defence capability. […]

[W]ith the new US approach to [ballistic] missile defence there are now much better opportunities for an effective NATO-wide system”



(*) Article 5 of The North Atlantic Treaty (1949) states that an attack on any NATO member country is an attack on all of NATO.

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from the archives:


US official: Turkey has international responsibilities that extend beyond its immediate neighbourhood

by Cem Ertür, Dandelion Salad, 17 March 2010

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/us-official-turkey-has-international-responsibilities-that-extend-beyond-its-immediate-neighbourhood/


Rasmussen In Poland: Expeditionary NATO, Missile Shield And Nuclear Weapons

by Rick Rozoff, Dandelion Salad, 14 March 2010

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/rasmussen-in-poland-expeditionary-nato-missile-shield-and-nuclear-weapons-by-rick-rozoff/


NATO’s role in the military encirclement of Iran

by Rick Rozoff, Dandelion Salad, 10 February 2010

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/nato%e2%80%99s-role-in-the-military-encirclement-of-iran-by-rick-rozoff/


Israel: Global NATO’s 29th member

by Rick Rozoff, Dandelion Salad, 17 January 2010

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/israel-global-nato%E2%80%99s-29th-member-by-rick-rozoff/


NATO’s secret transatlantic bond: Nuclear weapons in Europe

by Rick Rozoff, Dandelion Salad, 3 December 2009

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/nato%e2%80%99s-secret-transatlantic-bond-nuclear-weapons-in-europe-by-rick-rozoff/


Israel: Forging NATO missile shield, rehearsing war with Iran

by Rick Rozoff, Dandelion Salad, 5 November 2009

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/israel-forging-nato-missile-shield-rehearsing-war-with-iran-by-rick-rozoff/


Obama: President Bush was right that Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat

by Cem Ertür, Dandelion Salad, 18 September 2009

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/obama-president-bush-was-right-that-irans-ballistic-missile-program-poses-a-significant-threat/


The US-NATO preemptive nuclear doctrine: Trigger a Middle East nuclear holocaust to defend “the western way of life”

by Michel Chossudovsky, Dandelion Salad, 11 February 2008

 http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/the-us-nato-preemptive-nuclear-doctrine-trigger-a-middle-east-nuclear-holocaust-to-defend-the-western-way-of-life-by-michel-chossudovsky/

dandelion salad
- Homepage: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/03/448272.html


I don't trust the bastard

15.04.2010 21:19

Also, anyone who believes in a figment of the imagination (God) should not be allowed to have controls over nuclear technology. If they can't figure out that God (whichever one), doesn't it, then they certainly don't have the capability to make judgements over nuclear weapons.

nonce


Refreshing words!

15.04.2010 23:21

When I read words coming from Iran I find them full of the refreshing, clean calm of reason and such a contrast to the constant psychopathic rantings coming from power in the US, Britain, Israel and their hangers on and which are matched only by the talk of their soldiers steeped in the blood of murdered civilians (see WikiLeaks Collateral Murder  http://www.wikileaks.org/), all of it more than consummated by the actions of destroying two countries (Iraq and Afghanistan) in illegal wars.

This letter by Iran's Ambassador to the UN is a fine example, similar to the expressions of Iranian President Ahmedinejad; calm, reasoned, free of anger, impassioned remarks or threats, simple in it's plain statement of the facts that underpin it's complaint, clear and precise in its justification. It is an exemplary model of how matters of world affairs should be conducted, something quite apart from the paranoid snarlings, bigotry and outright dishonesty of western mainstream media, the sneering arrogance and suave deceitfulness of US presidents past and present, respectively or the pompous drum-beating of the likes of self-declared peace envoys like Tony Blair who currently comprise the shabby, corrupt and propagandist gaggle of morally adolescent or infantile decision makers who currently dominate the world forum.

Michael Sherrington


what was the result?

17.04.2010 19:51

...and what happened next? Did the UN reply to the letter? Was there some sort of debate?

curious