Prosor: Appointing Iran to UN disarmament c'tee like making drug lord CEO of pharmaceutical company

In letter to UN's Ban, Israeli envoy condemns Iran's appointment to be rapporteur for Disarmament and International Security C'tee.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Ron Prosor 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Ron Prosor 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor on Monday condemned the selection of Iran to the senior seat on the United Nation General Assembly’s Committee on Disarmament and International Security.
In a letter of complaint to UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, Prosor states that “it is inconceivable that a state under Security Council sanctions for suspected WMD proliferation activities would be allowed to hold this position.”
Prosor compared Iran serving on the UN’s leading disarmament committee to “appointing a drug lord CEO of a pharmaceutical company.”
The envoy argued that “Iran’s appointment erodes the UN’s legitimacy and its ability to promote arms control and disarmament as well as, preserve global peace and security.” He added, that “rather than provide a global stage for Iran’s defiance and deception, the UN should shine a spotlight on the regime’s ongoing pursuit of nuclear weapons and its support for terrorism across the globe.”
Member states elected Iran to be the rapporteur for the Disarmament and International Security Committee last week, hours after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu railed against Iran’s nuclear program from the UN General Assembly’s stage.
Iran’s representative will replace Norwegian diplomat Knut Langeland. The position’s duties include relaying information and reports on disarmament and armament activities between the committee and the General Assembly.
The First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, which is comprised of all 193 member states, “considers all disarmament and international security matters” and “seeks out solutions to the challenges in the international security regime.” One of its main functions is to draft resolutions that are later debated by the General Assembly; the committee has no power to pass resolutions.
Prosor’s warnings may fall on deaf ears, as many countries seem to be lining up to drink the metaphorical Iranian koolaid.
British foreign secretary William Hague told Reuters that Britain and Iran are working on mending ties, and Britain is thinking about reopening its embassy in Tehran that they shuttered in 2011.
“Both our countries will now appoint a non-resident charge d’affaires tasked with implementing the building of relations, including interim steps on the way towards [the] eventual reopening of both our embassies,” Hague told the British parliament.
Hague did admit that Iran remains “in defiance” of six UN security council resolutions, and that the Iranian government would need to make “substantive changes” to its nuclear program if it wanted a lifting of Western sanctions.
“In the absence of substantial change to these policies, we will continue to maintain strong sanctions,” Hague said.
“A substantial change in British or Western policies requires a substantive change in that program.”
Maya Shwayder in New York and Reuters contributed to this report.


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