An International Referendum on Tehran’s Belligerence and Barbarism: The Country Suffers a Humiliating Defeat at the UN
Fox News, October 23, 2008
Alireza Jafarzadeh (Foreign Affairs Analyst)
In a blunt indication of how the
rest of the world views the ayatollahs’ regime, its bid for
membership in the United Nations Security Council was
decisively defeated. The very notion is cheeky, from a
regime sanctioned in five Security Council resolutions for
its defiance of the international community over the nuclear
issue. The vote was a rout, with just 32 in favor out of the
192-member General Assembly.
The diplomatic setback reflected concerns beyond the nuclear
issue. According to The New York Times, “Some countries have
worried that Iran could behave as Rwanda did in the early
1990s, when it used its seat to hinder resolutions aimed at
curbing violence there.” In a damning report released to all
UN member states on Iran’s human rights situation, UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon deplored “the continuing high
incidence of executions, with a sudden surge of executions
reported in recent months.” The report also cited executions
of juveniles and stonings as well as “an increase in rights
violations against women, university students, teachers,
workers and other activist groups.”
The clerical regime has long portrayed itself as a champion
of the developing world that could rival the West.
To back up their visions of grandeur, the ayatollahs boast
about backing among countries of the Organization of Islamic
Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement. The lopsided vote
revealed otherwise. The two international bodies account for
124 member states of the UN General Assembly. Tehran’s
32-vote tally represents only about 25% of the two blocks —
not a strong showing by anyone’s standards.
The specter of overwhelming defeat usually prompts aspiring
states to withdraw their candidacy in advance of the vote to
prevent international embarrassment. The ayatollahs’
lobbying team in New York, however, was under strict orders
from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad’s office to march onward, despite the odds of
ultimate humiliation. A western envoy told Reuters that “The
Iranian ambassador came to see me to ask for our vote in the
election. I don’t know who had more difficulty keeping a
straight face — him or me.”
Desperate to avoid such an embarrassing a vote, the regime
even lobbied Japan, its competitor for the Asian seat on the
Council. According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, an
influential member of the ayatollahs’ parliament, Alaeddin
Boroujerdi, called on Japan to endorse Iran’s candidacy and
withdraw its name from the race. IRNA reported that
Boroujerdi implicitly promised Japan Tehran’s backing for a
permanent seat on the council, when and if the UN body is
ever expanded.
According to the U.N. Charter, member states must cast their
vote based on the “contribution of members of the United
Nations to the maintenance of international peace and
security and to other purposes of the organization, and also
to equitable geographical distribution.” No wonder Tehran
received such a thrashing. It is not just the West that is
concerned about the ayatollahs’ nuclear weapons program,
sponsorship of terror and mayhem in Iraq and in the region,
and relentless suppression of Iranians.
Following the vote, even the state-controlled media in Iran
reported on the diplomatic setback as “Defeat of the Project
for Iran’s Membership in the Security Council.” One member
of the press in particular wrote, “Although Ahmadinejad had
insisted that many countries are seeking solutions from Iran
for their problems and that there is widespread
international demand for Iran’s presence in the world arena,
the countries of the world gave a cold reception to Iran’s
bid for membership in the Security Council.”
The state-controlled Aftab News Agency wrote, “Ironically,
before the vote, government officials indicated there was
widespread support among Islamic countries and others for
Iran’s membership in the Security Council.”
The UN General Assembly’s vote overwhelmingly rejecting the
ayatollahs’ bid for membership in the Security Council
represents an international referendum on Tehran’s
belligerence and barbaric treatment of its populace. In
light of Tehran’s established pattern of violence and
unabated attempts to contribute to regional and world
insecurity, its membership on the Security Council would
have been a travesty.
But however much the ayatollahs’ regime has disqualified
Iran this time around, the Iranian nation and its people
still aspire to return to the family of nations. They will
merit that seat when the ayatollahs’ rule has ended and Iran
is represent by a democratic, secular, non-nuclear
government at peace with its own people and the world.
Alireza Jafarzadeh is a FOX News Channel Foreign Affairs
Analyst and the author of "The
Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear
Crisis" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).
Jafarzadeh has revealed Iran's terrorist network in Iraq and
its terror training camps since 2003. He first disclosed the
existence of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility and the
Arak heavy water facility in August 2002.
