Iran (IMNA) - Addressing the UN General Assembly, Iran’s permanent representative, Amir Saeed Iravani, stated that the world carries a binding legal and moral obligation to prevent and punish genocide wherever it occurs. He delivered the remarks during the session marking the 10th anniversary of the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide, reaffirming Iran’s full commitment to combating and preventing such crimes.
Iravani stressed that honoring the dignity of victims requires clarity, moral resolve, and concrete action. Preventing genocide, he said, is not simply an aspirational aim but a duty rooted in international law.
The envoy reiterated that all UN member states share a universal responsibility to prevent and punish genocide and must refrain from offering any kind of assistance to its perpetrators. He emphasized that the prohibition of genocide is a peremptory norm of international law, binding on all states without exception. Failure to act, he warned, only fuels further atrocities.
He commended the work of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which he said has issued alarming findings indicating that Israeli actions in Gaza meet the threshold of genocide.
According to Iravani, Israel has repeatedly violated international humanitarian law and human rights, with multiple UN mechanisms documenting these breaches. He pointed to the International Court of Justice, which he said has described developments in Gaza as genocide in its advisory opinion, citing mass killings, severe harm, starvation under blockade, systematic destruction of essential services, sexual violence, torture, deliberate targeting of civilians—particularly women and children—large-scale attacks on cultural and religious sites, and obstruction of humanitarian aid.
“These crimes cannot be justified, minimized, or concealed,” he declared, criticizing Western media for using dehumanizing language that, in his view, legitimizes Israel’s actions.
Iravani also referred to findings by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who reported that several Western governments have facilitated, legitimized, or normalized Israel’s conduct while masking it through diplomatic language, thereby reinforcing colonial narratives and distorting international law.
“Genocide cannot be erased by silence,” Iravani said. “The suffering of the victims must strengthen our collective resolve to end this crime once and for all.”
He concluded by calling on the United Nations to demonstrate genuine moral leadership—moving beyond symbolic commemorations toward decisive action by member states—to end the genocide and uphold the dignity of its victims.
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