UN: Iran 'bringing Israel closer to its Arab neighbours' – Israeli UN ambassador

W/S United Nations Security Council meeting, New York City
SOT, Danny Danon, Israeli Ambassador to the UN: "Yet, Tehran is succeeding in one key respect, bringing Israel closer to its Arab neighbours. The Warsaw summit in February proved that Israel and Arab countries can come together for regional collaboration. In their statements, Arab foreign ministers stood alongside Israel and against the regime that hijacked Iran and asserted our right to defend ourselves. Behind closed doors, even here in this building, many of the region's leaders freely admit that the main threat to the Middle East is Iran. Most of the violence terror and chaos engulfing the region leads back to one place, to Tehran. Our Arab neighbours understand that Israel is the leading force in the fight against radicalism and terrorism, and more and more Arab countries are forging new ties with Israel."
W/S United Nations Security Council meeting *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Karen Pierce, UK Ambassador to the UN: "I won't touch much today, Mr. President, on Syria, because this council has very many meetings on that sad conflict, but I will simply note that there can be no reconstruction without a sustainable UN-led political process on the basis of resolution 2254. With regards to the Iranian vessel, Grace 1, we have welcomed Gibraltar's recent actions and legal proceedings to implement EU sanctions, and these are in place to pressure the Assad regime towards negotiations. We understand that Iran has provided assurances to the government of Gibraltar that the vessel and its cargo will not go to an EU-sanction entity like Syria. Iran needs, Mr. President, Iran needs to abide by these assurances. In Idlib, we urgently need a ceasefire to prevent further suffering and we need answers, Mr. President, as to why and how international humanitarian law is being so flagrantly violated by the regime and its allies, and I want to recall, if I may, that such crimes confer individual and personal responsibility on the perpetrators."
W/S United Nations Security Council meeting *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Riyad H. Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to UN: "There is no military solution to this conflict or any other conflict in our region. Likewise imposition of unjust solutions such as the deal of the deals, or the deal of the century, is not peace-making and will fail with more massive political, security, economic, social and human cost. What is needed is the immediate mobilisation of the political will to implement the Security Council's resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We remain committed to the path of peace and to negotiations based on the relevant resolutions aimed at [the] achievement of a peace agreement that resolves all final status issues and realizes the Palestinian people's inalienable rights, including to self-determination and the life of freedom and dignity in an independent and sovereign state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side in peace with the state of Israel, within secure internationally recognized borders based on the 1967 lines and a just solution for the Palestine refugees based on resolution 194 and the Arab Peace Initiative."
W/S End of United Nations Security Council Meeting
SCRIPT
Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon criticised Iran during a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York City on Tuesday, saying that Iran's actions in the region were "bringing Israel closer to its Arab neighbours."
"Tehran is succeeding in one key respect, bringing Israel closer to its Arab neighbours," he said. "Arab foreign ministers stood alongside Israel and against the regime that hijacked Iran and asserted our right to defend ourselves. Behind closed doors, even here in this building, many of the region's leaders freely admit that the main threat to the Middle East is Iran. Most of the violence terror and chaos engulfing the region leads back to one place, to Tehran."
Members of the UNSC discussed other issues related to the Middle East such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Syrian war and the United Kingdom’s seizure of the Grace 1, an Iranian oil tanker, off the coast of Gibraltar.
MANDATORY CREDIT: UNTV