UN Condemns Saudi Ambassador’s Assassination Plot
By Ria Novosti
The UN General Assembly has approved a resolution condemning an assassination attempt on the Saudi ambassador in Washington, which U.S. says could be plotted by Iranian special forces.
The resolution, approved by 106 “yes” votes against nine “no vote”, with 40 abstentions, says the UN member states are “alarmed by the new and recurring acts of violence against diplomatic and consular representatives, which endanger or take innocent lives and seriously impede the normal work of such representatives and officials.”
Russia did not support the resolution.
“Amid the ongoing legal proceedings [against the suspects], we see the observance of the presumption of innocence as a matter of utmost importance,” Russian deputy UN ambassador Sergei Karev said after the vote.
“In this respect, we have grave doubts that the just approved General Assembly’s decision will conform to this principle,” he went on.
Iran’s envoy to the UN said the move was “unwise and unfair” as the draft resolution was based on “allegations.”
The assembly rejected Iran’s amendments to the resolution.
U.S. welcomed the resolution, saying it “sends a strong message to the Iranian government that the international community will not tolerate the targeting of diplomats.”
“We will continue to work closely with our allies and partners around the world to ensure that Iran understands that such outrageous acts only deepen Iran’s isolation,” the White House said in a statement.
U.S. federal prosecutors in New York charged two Iranians with a plot to bomb a restaurant in Washington while Saudi Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir dined there.
In mid-October. U.S. officials said one of the suspects was linked to the Quds force, the division of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for foreign operations. Iranian officials denied the reports as a “fabrication.”