On
Iran, Haley
Applauds Protesters' Courage,
France Says Not A Threat to
Int'l Peace
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Photos
UNITED NATIONS,
January 5 – In the UN Security
Council meeting on the Iran
protests on January 5, US
Ambassador Nikki Haley said
Haley said of the protesters,
"the world should applaud
their courage. The voices of
the Iranian people should be
heard. Some of our colleagues
believe that human rights have
no place here. The US does not
share that belief. Human
rights are not the gift of
governments. They are the
inalienable right of the
people themselves. The US
stands unapologetically with
those who seek freedom for
themselves and prosperity for
their families." This came
minutes after France's
Ambassador Francois Delattre
said France opposes
"instrumentalizing" the
situation in Iran from
outside. In the chamber,
Delattre spoke of the JCPOA:
"We must commit to fully
upholding the agreement with
Iran. This was the approach
that enjoyed consensus…the
matter at hand is to ensure
that it is rigorously
implemented. To lose this
hard-won ground would be a
major setback, not just for
the region, but for the
international community and
the non-proliferation regime,
and the consequences for that
might be very heavy....
However alarming the events of
recent weeks may be, they do
not constitute a threat to
international peace and
security…We must be wary of
any attempts to exploit this
crisis for personal ends."
Les droits de
l'homme. Before a
2:30 pm pre-meeting, the
Ambassadors of France and the
UK said they will vote to hold
the meeting (though France's
Francois Delattre cautioned
against any
"instrumentalizing" of the
situation from outside, a
position echoing France's on
the crackdown in the
Anglophone areas of Cameroon.
Delattre wished "bonne annee
aux Anglophones"). At the UN
noon briefing it emerged that
Iran's Permanent
Representative went to the
UN's 38th floor and met not
with Secretary General Antonio
Guterres but with his chief of
staff. Inner City Press asked
why that was, why Guterres'
public schedule has been empty
(all internal) for the three
days he's been back after an
11 day vacation, and if the
chief of staff's schedule can
be made public. Apparently
not. Nor would spokesman
Farhan Haq answer with whom
Russia's Nebenzia met on
January 4 on the 38th floor.
Ah, transparency. Kazakhstan
is the president of the
Security Council for January,
and just as they refused
on January 2 to take a single
Press question about Africa,
on January 4 they sent notice
initially only to some
correspondents. (Notable,
given press freedom issues
there.) As quickly obtained by
Inner City Press from multiple
sources, they wrote: "Dear
friends, To keep you informed,
tomorrow SC meets on Iran at
3.00PM, open format. And a
short announcement, our
Delegation is delighted to
invite you to a Tea and Coffee
table with Kazakh national
delights, to be served every
Tuesday and Thursday, starting
from 9 January, 9.30 to
11.30AM, in the UNCA Room, 3d
Floor, Secretariat Building."
We have and will have more on
this.
***
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