Araghchi tells UN chief: Israel must be held accountable for crimes against Palestinians

The Iranian foreign minister has urged the international community to take a firm stance against the Israeli regime’s plans to forcibly displace Palestinians from their homeland and underlined the need to hold the occupying entity to account for its decades-long crimes in the occupied territories.

Abbas Araghchi made the remarks on Monday during a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the Disarmament Conference and the Human Rights Council gathering in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss regional and international developments.

Araghchi described the current international and regional trends as worrisome as he pointed to regional developments, particularly the ongoing occupation and aggression by the Israeli regime against the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria.

“The international community should strongly oppose Israel’s colonial plans for the erasure of Palestine, including through the forced displacement of Gaza’s population or the annexation of the West Bank,” Araghchi added.

“The Israeli regime must be held accountable and punished for its crimes against Palestinians” he stated.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian foreign minister referred to the Islamic Republic’s commitment to its obligations over its peaceful nuclear program and described the adoption of pressure and intimidation tactics against Tehran as “illegal and illegitimate.”

Araghchi stressed the necessity of upholding the principles and objectives of the UN Charter and reminded all governments of their commitments to the rule of law at the international level.

He also highlighted the role of the UN secretary-general in ensuring that countries respect their rights and obligations and preventing some actors from misusing the UN Security Council’s mechanisms in this regard.

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Guterres, for his part, underlined the importance of multilateralism and all governments’ adherence to the UN Charter and international law.

Describing the developments in West Asia as sensitive and worrisome, he underlined the need to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people and prevent the forced displacement of people from Gaza.

Guterres also called for continued engagement between Iran and other relevant countries on the nuclear issue.

Israel’s military has been conducting a large-scale military offensive in the West Bank over the past month. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to leave their homes in West Bank refugee camps, while houses and infrastructure have been demolished.

The illegal entity has ramped up West Bank violence since October 7, 2023, when it launched its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. Since then, the regime forces have killed at least 923 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and some 49,000 others in Gaza.

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