By NNN-KUNA,
United Nations : Iran has insisted it is not interfering in Lebanese internal affairs as suggested by a recent UN report and expressed regret that the world body is far from being impartial.
Iranian Deputy Permanent Representative Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi protested in a letter to the secretary-general that his latest report on UN resolution 1559 regarding Lebanon contained certain “unwarranted references and some baseless allegations” against Iran, such as Tehran’s interference in Lebanese internal affairs and the smuggling of weapons through Syria to Hezbollah in the south.
Iran “enjoys deep historical and brotherly relations with Lebanon and has always supported national unity, national dialogue and consensus among Lebanese groups as the solution to the current political situation in the country,” Yazdi said in his letter Wednesday.
Iran, he said, “has also made sincere efforts to help bring the views of different Lebanese political groups and figures closer together. It is regrettable that the report has in a selective manner referred to certain parts of particular statements to project an untrue picture of the approach of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards the political situation in Lebanon.”
“It is equally unfortunate,” he added, that the report is “silent on the very unambiguous statements by some Lebanese officials that clearly refer to the interference in Lebanese internal affairs by certain powers, particularly the US.”
“Undoubtedly,” he argued, “this selective approach in a report that carries the name of the UN is unjustifiable and runs counter to the principle of impartiality on the basis of which the UN is bound to operate.”
He insisted that Iran has always “rejected any foreign interference in Lebanon, and by the same token, any reference in the report with regard to its approach towards Lebanon that may imply anything contrary to this principled position of my government is unfounded and void of any value.”
The Security Council is scheduled to discuss the report Thursday.