Saudi Gazette report

UNITED NATIONS - Saudi Arabia on Wednesday reaffirmed its full support for any measures and sanctions that would limit Iran’s aggressive moves and interference in the affairs of the countries in the region.

In a statement at the United Nations, delivered by the Deputy Head of the Saudi Permanent Mission to UN Dr. Khalid Manzlawi, the Kingdom regretted Iran’s misuse of the economic benefits of lifting the sanctions after the nuclear agreement and its use to continue destabilizing the region and developing its ballistic missile program and support for terrorism in the region, including Hezbollah, Houthi militias in Yemen and armed militias in Syria.

The statement was in response to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, submitted as part of the activities of the Committee on Humanitarian, Social and Cultural Rights.

Concerning the measures applied to Qatar, Manzlawi said: “We would like to emphasize the Special Rapporteur's acknowledgment that these measures do not constitute a blockade because they do not affect Qatar’s reciprocal transactions with third parties. The measures taken in this crisis are within the relevant rules of international law.”

“It is a sovereign right of my country to take whatever it deems appropriate for the sake of its national security. We urge Qatar to cooperate in eliminating the scourge of extremism and terrorism rather than harboring and funding it, and implement the commitments it has signed in the Riyadh Accords 2013-2014 and stop interference in the affairs of other countries and destabilize neighboring countries.”

Qatar’s attempts to internationalize this crisis will not contribute in finding solutions, but may complicate them further, he warned.

“Qatar must realize that these policies are unacceptable, and we hope that wisdom will prevail in Qatar and it will respond to the demands of the international community,” Manzlawi said. Commenting on the report on the Gaza Strip, he stressed the Kingdom’s steadfast and firm position in condemning Israeli occupation of Palestine and all Arab territories, as well as the Kingdom’s keenness to lift the siege in the Gaza Strip.

He also called upon the international community to fulfill its commitments to ensure the security and safety of the Palestinian people and condemn all forms of occupation and the lifting of the unjust Israeli siege imposed on it.

Meanwhile, Manal Radwan, Saudi Arabia’s delegate at the United Nations, spoke during a Security Council meeting on “the situation in the Middle East” during which she spoke on the Kingdom’s position on Palestine, Syria and Trump’s recent decision on the Iranian nuclear deal.

On Palestine, Saudi Arabia said that Israeli occupation’s settlement expansion impedes the peace process and that Israeli occupation of Palestine must be addressed. “We welcome cooperation between Washington and Jordan to reduce the escalation in southern Syria,” she said.