UN Security Council fails to pass statement condemning attack on Iran in Syria
(Baonghean.vn) - The United States, Britain and France on April 3 opposed a statement of the United Nations Security Council drafted by Russia, which condemned the attack on Iran's embassy in Syria, which Tehran blamed on Washington's ally Israel.
Statements by the 15-member Security Council must be unanimous. Diplomats said the United States, backed by France and Britain, insisted many of the facts about what happened earlier this week in Damascus were unclear and there was no consensus among council members at the April 2 meeting.
“This clearly illustrates the double standards employed by the Western ‘troika’ and their pragmatic, rather than declaratory, approach to legitimacy and order in the international context,” Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said in a post on X.
The UN Security Council has previously issued statements condemning attacks on diplomatic premises. The European Union (EU) on April 3 condemned the attack - saying the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and personnel must be respected - and called on countries to show restraint.
The US said it had not confirmed the status of the building attacked in Damascus but would be concerned if it was a diplomatic facility.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack that destroyed a consulate building adjacent to the main embassy complex, killing seven members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran has accused Israel of violating the United Nations Charter, international law and also cited several conventions.
Those conventions provide that diplomatic or consular premises “shall be inviolable.” But they also provide that the premises “shall not be used in any manner inconsistent” with diplomatic or consular functions.
Iran also cited the 1973 Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, Including Diplomatic Officials – suggesting those killed were covered by these rules.
The 1961 Vienna Convention governing diplomatic relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations define premises as buildings, parts of buildings and land – regardless of ownership – used for the purposes of a diplomatic or consular mission, including the head of the mission.