All Central Asian states oppose UNGA’s human rights resolution against Iran

TEHRAN, (MNA) – All five Central Asian countries [including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan] opposed the UN General Assembly’s human rights resolution against the Islamic Republic of Iran and voted against the move unanimously.

Other countries such as Afghanistan, Armenia, Belarus, China, Iraq, Pakistan, Russia and Syria also opposed the UNGA’s human rights resolution against Iran.

Totally, 66 countries gave abstention vote and 30 countries voted against the resolution.

Yesterday, the 3rd Committee of UNGA, with the repetition of its unproven and threadbare accusations, approved a resolution with fragile votes against “Situation of Human Rights in Iran”.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousaci condemned the resolution, saying “Iran has always been committed to the human rights in line with its national security and interests and also based on religious requirements.”

Mousavi termed the approval of the resolution as ‘unilateral and unrealistic’ and added, “this resolution is put forward against Iran at a time when one of the chief supporters of this resolution, i.e. US, is violating the most basic rights of over 83 million Iranian people especially women, children, the elderly and patients.”

Tehran, Riyadh's steps to de-escalate tensions

TEHRAN, (MNA) – Past tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia in recent days have been replaced by positive signals for engagement and negotiation; the signs are evident in the speeches and statements of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia’s officials.

According to a report by IRNA, After years of tension and disagreement in various fields between Iran and Riyadh, there are now positive and promising signs from the authorities of two sides.

Rejection of war with Iran by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and emphasis on the effectiveness of diplomatic relations with Iran indicates a clear shift in the position of Saudi leaders.

The readiness of some regional actors such as Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia also shows that they hope to find a peaceful resolution of the Tehran-Riyadh disputes. 

In addition, Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Rabiei recently revealed Saudi Arabia's message to Tehran, which Saudi Arabia had their own interpretation for their domestic public opinion and foreign allies.

For instance, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir wrote oh his twitter that what Iranian Government Spokesman said was not accurate about the message of Saudi Arabia to Iranians. What happened is that some countries were trying to reduce the tension; we also told them that Saudi Arabia was constantly trying to create security and stability in the region.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, which has always sought to improve its relations with neighboring and regional countries, such as Saudi Arabia, continues to emphasize its approach in the current situation.

In this regard, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Turkey's TRT World that Iran has always been ready to negotiate on all issues with Saudi Arabia. It is Iran’s neighbor. There is no choice but to talk to each other. Negotiation with Saudi Arabia can be direct or through mediation. Iran never rejects mediation.

Iran's peace plan, named Hormuz Peace Endeavor (HOPE), proposed by President Hassan Rouhani at the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly this year in early September, showed the importance of endogenous security to achieve peace in the region.

Addressing the UN General Assembly session, Rouhani described ensuring security, peace, stability, and progress in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz as Iran’s historical responsibility and invited all countries that are affected by the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz developments to join the Hormuz Peace Endeavour (HOPE) initiative.

The Initiative is based on the fact that all regional states are duty-bound to ensure peace, stability, and prosperity in the region. They along with the global community have common interests in maintaining freedom of navigation and transfer of energy. HOPE is designed to include all countries of the region and aims to expand cooperation beyond regional security.

The Initiative promotes solidarity, mutual understanding and peaceful and friendly relations and cooperation among regional states as well as boosting collaboration in uprooting terrorism, extremism, and sectarian tensions and making sure about energy security, freedom of shipping and free flow of oil are among the objectives of the initiative.

Rouhani's Initiative came days after Yemen's missile strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities inflicting heavy cost on the Saudis. In this regard, some of Iran's enemies sought to exert pressure on Iran by taking advantage of this incident and claiming that Tehran was responsible for the attack.

Nearly a month after the Aramco attacks, US President Donald Trump is still seeking to take the most advantage of the attack for his multi-purpose goals, such as isolating and pressuring Iran, increasing disparities in the region, especially between countries of the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea, sending American weapons to these countries, justifying military presence and intervention in the region, and so on.

The US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on Friday 19 October that US has approved the deployment of 3,000 additional troops and military hardware to Saudi Arabia, boosting the country's defense capability after attacks on its oil installations. He authorized the deployment of two more Patriot missile batteries, one THAAD ballistic missile interception system, two fighter squadrons, and one air expeditionary wing, according to Pentagon statement.

Observers believe that the sale of military equipment and weapons, along with the significant US military presence in Saudi Arabia, will be used to militarize the region and bring the money of selling of the Saudi Arabian oil products to the United States. The danger that has even caught the attention of congressmen, who have repeatedly protested the effects of Trump's greed for weapons sales and stood in front of the president, but have so far failed to succeed.

Decoding Iranian president plan entitled “Hormuz Peace initiative”

By Mohammad Ghaderi

TEHRAN - While, only few days left until President Hassan Rouhani’s speech at the UN, world media has begun to speculate about the content of his remarks by offering various analyzes. 

One of the key points of the president’s speech at the UN General Assembly, as he pointed at the Sacred Defense anniversary parade, is “hope coalition plan, Hormuz peace initiative”. 

There are not any full details and contents of the plan yet. The proposal that the president intends to present, with the aim of offering regional mechanism to establish peace in the Persian Gulf, seems to be based on Article 2 of Resolution 598 of the Security Council. 

Article 2 of the resolution, based on which 8-year war between Iran and Iraq was ended, has emphasized on forming security arrangements with the participation of Iraq, Iran and six Gulf states under the UN supervision.

In fact, Iran’s “hope coalition plan, Hormuz peace initiative” has several key points, including:

1.    Solving security changes of the region requires the creation of a joint domestic structure to prevent security crises and to resolve possible challenges. 

 The U.S. so far has taken advantage of the lack of domestic mechanism for security in the region, and increasingly expanded its military presence at the expense of regional countries by creating disagreement between the countries. It has created artificial crises to prevent security and stability in the Persian Gulf. While Iran’s plan guarantees the security of all countries in the region. 

2.    Iran has always supported the strategy of establishing security mechanism with the participation of some regional countries. It intends to protect collective interests and prevent the presence of foreigners.

3.    Based on the experience of the 8-year war between Iran and Iraq, which directly or indirectly involved the countries in the region, the international community concluded that the establishment of stable security can be carried out through the use of domestic capacities and regional consensus. So far, and due to various reasons, this approach has not been applied in the Persian Gulf. The main reason is the conflict of the approach with the interests of some trans-regional powers, especially the U.S. 

U.S. government seeks to make aviation and shipping conditions in the Persian Gulf insecure and to form a coalition for the so-called security in the region. It does so through the strategy of maintaining maximum presence and selling weapon to the regional countries. 
Indeed, the main cause of insecurity in the Persian Gulf was the enormous and illegal presence of U.S. military fleets in the region. Surely, by stopping this intervention and active presence of the Gulf states in the process of comprehensive security, there will be no need for the presence of other countries and useless coalitions. 

Resolution 598 and Article 2 were formed as a result of long and dreadful experiences caused by regional conflicts and aimed to end war. One of the goals of the Resolution is to provide a legal and consensual context for establishing stable security arrangements in the region. 

Iran’s proposal and initiative on the anniversary of the sacred defense is a reminder of the bitter and dreadful experiences of the past. It emphasizes on the need to prevent the formation of similar situations through the cooperation and participation of all countries in the region. The proposal is a legal and consensual plan to put an end to the continuous iniquities of foreign countries, especially the U.S. in the region. It is a beginning for removing current tensions and misunderstandings and establishing security and stability in the Persian Gulf.

Iran to Propose ‘Coalition of Hope’ in Persian Gulf

TEHRAN -- President Hassan Rouhani headed for New York on Monday to attend the UN General Assembly on a mission to win support for Iran against "cruel" pressure from the United States.

Before departing, Rouhani said his delegation was heading to the UN gathering despite Washington's reluctance to issue them U.S. visas.
Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since May last year when President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal and subsequently began reimposing sanctions on Iran in a stated campaign of "maximum pressure".
"It is essential for us to take part in the UN General Assembly and talk at various levels," Rouhani said at Tehran's Mehrabad airport.
"The cruel actions that have been taken against the Iranian nation and also the difficult and complicated issues that our region faces with them need to be explained."
Rouhani also said Iran would put forward a Persian Gulf peace plan at the UN meeting.
Under the plan dubbed the Hormuz Peace Endeavour, or HOPE, he said, "all the coastal states of the Persian Gulf are invited to join this coalition to provide and maintain regional security".
The peace initiative, he said, is aimed at establishing long-term peace in the Persian Gulf, something he said is simply not achievable as long as outsiders are present.
"Of course, the plan that will be laid out at the United Nations won't be just about security, but rather economy and other issues, all in line with security matters."
The HOPE initiative comes against the backdrop of tensions in the Persian Gulf, where several tankers and commercial vessels have come under suspicious attacks by unknown parties while attempting to cross the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The United States has blamed the sabotage attacks on Iran, using them as a pretext to build a coalition that would patrol the region.
The U.S. is trying to project the mission as a bid to secure the Persian Gulf, but "the Europeans argue that Washington created the problem in the first place by trying to kill off Iran’s oil exports", the New York Times wrote last month.
Iran has dismissed the allegations and called the attacks false flag operations, warning regional neighbors to watch out for plots by outsiders to destabilize the region.
Rouhani echoed that stance on Monday, saying any solution to calm tensions must come from within the region and what he called a "coalition of hope."
"We believe the solution for the region comes from inside the region and those who come from the outside can never bring peace and security," he said.
Citing America's military interventions in the Middle East as an example, Rouhani said since entering the region in 2001, the United States has failed to bring back calm to any of the countries that it has deployed forces to.
"I hope we can roll out this plan and tell the world that Iran is looking for lasting peace in the region and is willing to" discuss it with other countries with the UN involved in the process, he said of his HOPE initiative.
Rouhani also pointed to the September 14 attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities by Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement and the biased reactions that it received from Riyadh's close allies, specially the United States.
The damage from the retaliatory Yemeni attack was so vast that the kingdom lost more than half of its oil output overnight, causing global oil prices to jump.
American officials, along with their Saudi allies, have since pointed the finger at Iran without any evidence even though the Houthis have on several occasions claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it is only one of their many such strikes in retaliation for the Saudi-led war.
"The Aramco (attack) is the outcome of the aggression that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Zionist regime have been leading against Yemen," Rouhani said.
"If they (the Saudis) don't initiate aggression, they (the Yemenis) won't hit back and when they do and see the response, it is hard for them to swallow" the retaliation, the Iranian president continued. "Their cruelty is justified in their own eyes."
Rouhani said this year's General Assembly was significant as it came at a time when the U.S. has hit the rock bottom against Iran after the failure of its so-called "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions.
"We are headed to the UN while the Americans have pushed their sanctions campaign so far that they admit there is nothing left for them to sanction," the president said, noting that the failures had put Washington in a state of "absolute desperation" against Iran.
Rouhani flew to New York on Monday morning. He will deliver a speech at the 74th UN General Assembly later on Wednesday and meet with a host of foreign leaders and Iranians living in the U.S. before heading back on Thursday evening.

Details of A Meeting: Censorships in History

BY NADER TALEBZADEH

The meeting between the Leader of the Islamic Republic and the prime minister of Japan on June 13, 2019 had two significances. First, it broke the traditional censorship on what the Leader has been saying for over three decades. The prime minister obviously was carrying a message from the US president and it had to be heard by the Leader. Here the voice and the answer were much different than what the Iranian president or foreign minister would say and much more dynamic. It would also come as a wakeup call to the US president who would normally remain uninformed about the undercurrents of almost everything, domestic or foreign-related. Second, the message itself, that President Trump could not be trusted, period.

The written letter was not received but an oral presentation was submitted by the prime minister. The message was briefly put. Why should the Iranians trust a man who had defied an already clear agreement that was laboriously reached after five years? The sequence was carefully recorded and edited, yet most world journalists did not see it. This was due to the long-standing tradition of censoring whatever he says, going back to thirty two years ago when he was President and appeared at the UN General Assembly.

*(September 23, 1987, Page 00001, The New York Times Archives)

It is an interesting anecdote that I haven’t seen anyone notice. On September 23, 1987 the New York Times announced how an Iranian ship was caught red-handed laying mines in the western waters of the Persian Gulf. It was attacked, three Iranian sailors were killed and over twenty captured. Iran denied wrongdoing since it was in war with Saddam and asked what the Americans were doing there in the first place? But the juicy dramatic point, was why the American helicopter attack, which according to the US Navy had been tracking the Iranian boat for quite a long time was attacking at exactly the same time as Ayatollah Khamenei was about to make a speech at the UN general assembly? This was at the peak of the war with Saddam that the US fully supported and the Iranian president was going to embark on why the Americans were so adamant in supporting such a cannibal.

None the less the speech at the UN was completely obliterated. Ayatollah Khamenei was not heard. The story of Iran’s grand crime of protecting its waters against foreign invasion totally covered the UN speech. Caught Red Handed was the title of every media in the US. The synchronization of the attack and the speech is the point here.

This scenario repeated itself again two days ago when the Japanese President came to the Iranian Leader. As the talks were going on two Iranian oil carrying ships were mysteriously attacked and the world media focused on just that. None of the details of the meeting were elaborated upon. A cover-up had camouflaged the real story which was the Leader’s response to Trump.

This style censorship on him specifically has repeated itself in other instances which I will skip for now. But the point is clear

President Rouhani: US defeated against Iran righteousness, prudence

Tehran, Oct 14, IRNA – It is common knowledge that legally and politically speaking, the US has been defeated by breaking international commitments and Iran was victorious, said Iran's president on Sunday.

'Their final goal is to delegitimize the Islamic Establishment. And they have started with a mental war and an economic war to delegitimize us,' said President Hassan Rouhani, speaking at a ceremony marking beginning of the academic year in Iran.

Saying that Iran can pass through the situation with unity and solidarity, President Rouhani said, 'We can defeat the US in many fields; some may say, 'That's just a rhetoric. How can you defeat the US with such a power and political and economic leverage all around the world?''

'I have a question for them: Has the US been politically victorious against Iran in the past few decades or has it been defeated?'

Saying that only a few countries have supported the US exit from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as Iran Deal, he added, 'The conservative ones just express sorrow, the more explicit ones say the US made a mistake, and the most explicit ones say the US violated the law.' 

'US President Donald Trump intended to exploit the United Nations Security Council to harm Iran and prove his policies against Iran; what response did he receive? All the other 14 members of the UNSC defended the JCPOA, and hence, Trump failed.'

'The US president, whose country hosts the UN, issues visas for the other countries officials who enter it and is also the rotating head of the UNSC, left the council empty-handed.'

Saying that it was due to Iran's righteousness and prudence, he said the US expected Iran to announce its exit from the deal, then they could take Iran's case to the UNSC again, the entire world would support the US and Iran would have been alone.

Saying that there has been no government in the US more hostile than the current administration of the US against Iran and the Islamic Establishment, he said, 'Iran showed prudence, didn’t haste, and unhurriedly announced that we wait a few weeks to see what other countries will do.'

'We will quit the deal whenever we want. Quitting is easy, like bringing a wall down; building it is hard.'

He said that the JCPOA is not important per se, but 'The national interests and security is of significance.' 

Referring to the nationalization of oil industry in Iran during Mosaddeq's premiership, he said the UK filed a complaint against Iran at The Hague, but the court voted in favor of Iran.

'This time Iran filed a complained, which was victorious.'

Saying that the problem is that the US quit the international multilateral deal without any reason, he added the judge between us is the secretariat of the UN and above that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

'They both say that the US has made a mistake and Iran is righteous here. Politically speaking and in the eye of the international institutions and public opinion, we have been successful.'

President Rouhani said that if European companies terminate their cooperation with Iran, they will be fined by the European courts, and if continue with that, they will be fined by the US; 'Such an issue is unprecedented in the relations of the European Union and the US.'

Reminiscing his visit to New York to participate in the UN General Assembly, Rouhani quoted an important European country's prime minister as saying, 'Had I been told five years ago that one day I would support Iran in its fight with the US, I would have said, 'That's impossible. We are US allies, our securities and economies are interwoven.''

Now the US and the EU are countering each other. 'When Trump wanted to hold a meeting with the UNSC members, Iran, China, Russia and the EU held a meeting to counter US policies, which is a big happening, said the Iranian President.

Though the EU cannot convince European companies to work with Iran, all the governments are with Iran, he added.

Trump Makes a Laughing Stock of Himself at the UN

By: Kayhan Int’l 

Donald Trump who heads the super terrorist entity called the "United States of America” blurted out preposterous lies in his address at the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, labelling all sorts of accusations at the Islamic Republic of Iran, raving at China’s international economic clout, ranting at Venezuela’s refusal to bow to his dictates, threatening military action against Syria in support of terrorists, defending his inhuman treatment of immigrants, ruling out aid to impoverished countries unless total submission to his policies, praising the child-killing racist Zionist entity, lauding the unrepresentative, unelected, and totalitarian regime of war-mongering Saudi Arabia as reformist, and claiming that he and his 2-year old administration has done more for the US than all his predecessors since the USA came into existence over two centuries ago.

The "dotard” – as North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un has aptly described him – drew peals of laughter from world leaders and diplomats for his nonsensical remarks, yet the intellectually-immature, morally-bankrupt, and politically-naïve Trump, after a moment’s pause that showed his embarrassment, continued to talk trash, without the least decorum, as if he was a neighbourhood hoodlum bragging about his supposedly ‘great accomplishments’ to a local crowd.

The poor guy had nothing new to say. He merely repeated from the podium of the World Body what he and his team of thugs have been saying for the past year.         

Trump’s prattle included outlandish allegations such as Iran is promoting terrorism, destabilizing the region from Syria to Yemen, building nuclear weapons, depriving the Iranian people of their religious and democratic rights, and misappropriating the public treasury.

The blockhead, who in stark violation of international laws and Washington’s own commitments, withdrew the US from the 7-nation nuclear accord on Iran’s right to peaceful use of nuclear energy, threatened more illegal sanctions against the Islamic Republic in a bid to, what he called reducing the country to a penurious position, if it does not buckle down to American pressure.

It is obvious that Trump is living in a fool’s paradise. He cannot do a damn thing to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has flourished over the past forty years despite the most stringent US economic sanctions, as well as military plots.

He doesn’t have the power to prevent Iran’s growing influence in the region and beyond as the stabilizing factor for countries where the joint destabilizing policies of the US, Saudi Arabia and Israel have miserably failed.

It is clear that the US president has not only disgraced himself, but has become a blot of shame for the whole American system.

If Trump had any sense he could have reflected on his own comments four years back in 2014 when as an aspiring Republican candidate he had tweeted: "We need a President who isn’t a laughing stock to the entire World. We need a truly great leader, a genius at strategy and winning respect.”

Now as president, he has become a laughing stock himself, with his idiotic policies at both home and abroad, thereby facing strong criticism. Polls show a majority of Americans feel the US has lost respect around the globe under his presidency. 

God Willing Donald Trump will not only bring about his own downfall but the downfall of the whole hegemonic American system that will see the end of all dictatorial and spurious entities in West Asia, to the benefit of world peace and stability.