🇷🇺VASILY NEBENZYA:

"What was it that we heard from Western delegations? That everything was not 'so obvious' to them and that it was still necessary to weigh up whether such a signal from the Council would help to stabilize the situation in the region.

The United States, Great Britain and France, in fact, refused to confirm that the basic principles of international law on the inviolability of diplomatic and consular facilities, enshrined in the relevant Vienna Conventions, are valid for and apply equally to all states.

You see the result.

You are aware that an attack on a diplomatic mission is a casus belli under international law.

And if Western missions were under attack, you would not hesitate to retaliate and then you would be proving your case in this chamber.

Because for you everything that concerns Western missions and Western citizens is sacred and must be protected.

But when it comes to other states, their citizens and their rights, including the right to self-defense, then 'it’s different', that’s what you say. And you use your favorite arguments about 'a lack of information', invoke legal casuistry, etc.

The parade of hypocrisy and 'double standards' that is unfolding in the Security Council today is so gross that even being an onlooker feels embarrassing.

Russia has repeatedly warned that failure to resolve the numerous crises in the Middle East, primarily in the area of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which are often fueled by irresponsible unilateral provocative actions, will trigger an increase of tension in the region.

We have repeatedly said that no country in the Middle East and North Africa should become an arena for regional and international confrontation or for settling political scores.

What happened on the night of April 14 did not happen in a vacuum.

Iran's steps were a response to the UN Security Council's shameful inaction on Israel's blatant attack on Damascus (not the first one, for that matter). Syria is being constantly bombarded by Israel.

Many of you did not have the courage to point out directly that the current outbreak of escalation in the Middle East is unfolding against the backdrop of West Jerusalem’s operation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which has been going on for more than six months on an unprecedented scale, despite the unequivocal demand of UN Security Council resolution 2728 for an immediate ceasefire.

We consider such 'silencing' of the root causes of the current crisis unacceptable, all the more so against the background of the situation around Iran, which is being escalated by our American and other colleagues.

And Israel's failure to fulfill the requirements of the UNSC resolution (which I mentioned) is an obvious disrespect for the Council – for all of you sitting in the chairs of member states – and a complete disregard for the decisions of the Security Council.

No one should be able to get away with non-compliance with UNSC decisions. This is fraught with sanctions against the violators.

We all remember the dangerous escalation in January 2020, when the region was almost on the verge of conflict after the illicit killing of Qassem Suleimani and a number of Iraqi officials committed by the United States on the territory of Iraq.

Washington failed to draw the right conclusions.

And now its allies, too, commit irresponsible actions that undermine the stability, security and sovereignty of Iran's neighbors in the region."