UNITED NATIONS-UNS : Pakistan abstained from voting on a United States-sponsored resolution seeking to extend the mandate of the UN panel responsible for monitoring sanctions on Iran, reiterating that Tehran’s nuclear programme should be addressed through dialogue and diplomacy.
The resolution failed after Russia and China exercised their vetoes. Eleven Security Council members supported the proposal, while Pakistan and Somalia abstained.
The panel of experts was mandated to monitor alleged sanctions violations, report its findings to the 15-member Security Council and recommend further action. However, the council had remained unable to reach the consensus required to appoint experts to the panel.
Addressing the Security Council, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, expressed concern that deliberations over Iran’s nuclear programme had become increasingly complicated.
He said regional hostilities, attacks on nuclear facilities and differences among permanent Security Council members had made it more difficult to resolve the issue through peaceful diplomatic engagement.
Ambassador Ahmad reaffirmed Pakistan’s position that diplomacy and dialogue must remain the guiding principles for resolving outstanding questions concerning Iran’s nuclear programme.
He stressed that the matter should be addressed peacefully and in accordance with the rights, obligations and responsibilities of all parties concerned. Pakistan, he added, had consistently advocated diplomatic engagement and warned against confrontation and conflict.
The Pakistani envoy also supported the International Atomic Energy Agency’s central technical role in implementing nuclear safeguards. He called for the agency to perform its responsibilities independently, professionally and without political interference.
Ambassador Ahmad urged the concerned parties to build upon the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, honour their commitments and resume negotiations to achieve a peaceful and sustainable settlement.
