Iran urges UN to condemn terrorist attack to Iranian pilgrims in Iraq

EghtesadOnline: Iranian ambassador to the United Nations urged the international body to condemn the recent terrorist attack in Iraq which claimed lives of 71 people, most of them Iranian pilgrims, and injured a lot more.

News ID: ۷۷۱۶۸۳

27 November 2016

In a letter sent to the UN secreatary genearl and president of the Security Council on Saturday, Gholamhossein Dehghani, Ambassador and Charge d'Affaires of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations said while Iran expects that the United Nations condemn this terrorist attack in the strongest possible way, Iranian people and government also expect that the United Nations, especially the Security Council, live up to the expectation of peoples and Member States and take concrete actions in addressing the scourge of terrorism.

According to IRNA, the following is the full text of the letter:

In the name of God, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful

Excellencies,

Upon instructions from my government, I have the honour to write to you to draw your attention to the barbaric terrorist attack on 24 November 2016 at a gas station on a highway 100 km south of Baghdad, Iraq, which killed and injured more than 150 people, most of them Iranian pilgrims on route back from a religious gathering in the city of Karbala. The blast from the explosives-laden truck set afire five pilgrim buses, killing scores of innocent people in the buses and surrounding areas. Regrettably, it is not the first terrorist attack of this kind; as in recent years, scores of Iranian pilgrims have lost their lives in similar attacks.

The Iranian people and government have and continue to do whatever in their power to help eradicate Daesh, which has claimed responsibility for the attack, and its affiliates and other terrorist groups and elements. This horrendous act of terrorism and so many other similar acts in which many thousands of innocent souls perished in Iraq and Syria and many other places should remind all of us of our duty to effectively help destroy terrorist groups. It should also serve as a reminder to those who have spread destructive Takfiri ideology and sectarian hatred and helped terrorist groups in different ways to stop their acts and join the international community in the fight against violent extremism and terrorism.

While we expect that the United Nations condemns this terrorist attack in the strongest possible way, my people and government also expect that the United Nations, especially the Security Council, live up to the expectation of peoples and Member States and take concrete actions in addressing the scourge of terrorism.

I should be grateful if you have this letter circulated as a document of Security Council.

Please accept, Excellencies, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Gholamhossein Dehghani
Ambassador and
Charge d'Affaires
- H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Secretary General
New York

- H.E. Mr. Fodé SECK
President of the Security Council