Israel’s occupation of Palestine ‘constitutes the gravest form of terrorism,’ says Iranian UN envoy

Iran’s Ambassador to the UN has told the Security Council that the “collective punishment of peoples” and their “brutalisation under foreign occupation… constitutes the gravest form of terrorism,” Tasnim news agency has reported. Gholam Ali Khoshroo cited the Israeli blockade of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as an example.

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Khoshroo made his comments during a Security Council open debate on the “Protection of Critical Infrastructure against Terrorist Attacks” held in New York on Monday. The UN News Centre said that the council met to discuss the importance of critical infrastructure for a country’s prosperity and security. The discussion took place against the backdrop of increasingly diverse physical and cyber threats from terrorist groups.

In his statement, Khoshroo spoke about the “proliferation of terrorist acts”, which he said were at “unprecedented levels”. Commenting specifically about the attack on infrastructure he said: “The most recent terrorist attacks, particularly those committed by Daesh and other terrorist and extremist groups, indicate that critical infrastructures are increasingly attractive targets for terrorist operations.”

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Such attacks, he added, terrorise the general public and have adverse consequences on the economic and social development of nation states, including the possible disruption of basic service delivery. Citing Israel’s occupation of Palestine, he appealed to the Security Council not to overlook “the collective punishment and brutalisation of people” by foreign occupying powers.

The 15-member council adopted a unanimous resolution that reiterated the “the need to strengthen efforts to improve security and protection of particularly vulnerable targets, such as infrastructure and public places.”