Iran blasts bids to block Palestine UN membership

Iran has lashed out at efforts to impede the process of Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi criticized certain members of the UN Security Council for hindering Palestine’s full membership of the world body and censured the US for its unilateral polices toward the issue of Palestine.

Araqchi made the remarks in a meeting of the Palestine Committee of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on the sidelines of the 17th NAM foreign ministerial conference in the Algerian capital city of Algiers on Wednesday.

Discussing the recent developments regarding Palestine, Araqchi termed the admission of Palestine as a non-member observer state of the UN as the first step for its full membership of the international body.

On November 29, 2012, the United Nations General Assembly voted to upgrade Palestine’s status at the UN from “non-member observer entity” to “non-member observer state” despite strong opposition from Israel and the US.

The upgrade allows the Palestinians to participate in debates at the UN General Assembly and improves their chances of joining UN agencies and the International Criminal Court (ICC) where they could file complaints against Israel.

Araqchi further highlighted the significance of the issue of Palestine for the Islamic republic, voicing the NAM’s support for Palestinians’ bid to restore their rights and resist aggression and occupation.

Iran is the current chair of the NAM.

Also during the meeting of the committee, Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki elaborated on the latest development with regard to the Palestinian issue such as a new deadlock in the so-called peace talks between the PA and the Israeli regime.

The talks reached a new deadlock when Tel Aviv refused to free the last tranche of the 104 Palestinian prisoners in late March as part of a deal for the resumption of the US-sponsored negotiations.