Tehran’s permanent representative at the United Nations, Gholam-Ali Khoshroo, has protested against U.S. Secretary of State's recent comments on Washington’s support for "peaceful transition" in Iran.
In his June 19 letter to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, the envoy describes Rex Tillerson’s comments as “a brazen interventionist plan that runs counter to every norm and principle of international law, as well as the letter and spirit of UN Charter, and constitutes an unacceptable behavior in international relations.”
Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson told House Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, June 14, that the United States policy towards Iran is based on support of internal forces who can bring about peaceful change.
He was speaking at a hearing on the State Department policies and budget priorities, when Representative Ted Poe of Texas asked him about sanctioning Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and U.S. policy towards Iran.
Secretary Tillerson responded:
“Well, our Iranian policy is under development. It's not yet been delivered to the president. But I would tell you that we certainly recognize Iran's continued destabilizing [role] in the region. Their payment of foreign fighters, their export of militia forces in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen, their support of Hezbollah... And we are taking action to respond to Iran’s hegemony."
These comments are against the spirit and the letter of the 1981 Algiers Accords, asserts Khoshroo.
The Algiers Accords are a set of agreements between the United States and Iran to resolve the Iran Hostages Crises brokered by the Algerian government and signed in the capital, Algiers on January 19, 1981.
The crisis emerged from the takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, and the taking hostage of the American staff there. By the Algiers accord the 52 American diplomats were set free and able to leave Iran.
According to the deal, US pledged not to “intervene politically or militarily in Iranian internal affairs,” as well as “Remove a freeze on Iranian assets and trade sanctions on Iran.”
Meanwhile, on Monday 19June, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Swiss charge d’affaires in Tehran to raise a similar complaint against Tillerson’s remarks.
According to Mehr News the spokesperson of the Iran’s foreign ministry Bahram Ghasemi said “following the interfering and meddling statements made by the US secretary of State Rex Tillerson and given the absence of the Swiss ambassador, charge d’affaires of the European country was summoned by the Ministry’s director general for US affairs to express Iran’s complaint about Tillerson’s anti-Iran remarks.
As Tehran and Washington do not have diplomatic relations, Switzerland’s embassy acts as US interest section in Iran.
