NEW YORK CITY: Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, on Wednesday condemned the decision to allow Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to attend and participate in UN General Assembly currently taking place in New York City.
Erdan denounced Raisi as “the butcher of Tehran” and said that giving him a platform on the world stage is a “moral stain” on the UN.
Raisi is committed to bringing about a “dark future” for the world, he said as he urged people to stand up to the Iranian president by protesting against him and calling him out for his crimes. “Do not leave it to the UN,” he added.
Speaking at an event in Midtown Manhattan organized by US-based advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly, Erdan warned that a “nuclear Iran” would pose an “existential threat” to Israel.
Referring to continuing attempts led by the US and Europe to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, he said that “the international community remains committed to reviving a fundamentally flawed deal that doesn’t prevent the one thing it is meant to prevent: A nuclear Iran.”
He warned that “Iran will become a nuclear power in the blink of an eye” under such a deal with Tehran, and added that a “polarized Security Council in the UN” would find it impossible to impose sanctions against the country. Former President Donald withdrew the US from the JCPOA in 2018 and imposed sanctions on Tehran.
Erdan said that “reviving the nuclear deal would be a disaster for Israel, a disaster for the region and a disaster for the whole world.”
It would result in more cash flowing to Tehran’s proxy forces in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world, he warned, noting that the regime’s “terror footprint can be found on every continent.”
Referring to terror networks in Europe and South America, cyber attacks in Albania, and assassination attempts in the US, Erdan said military expansion is a part of the Iranian regime’s plans to “export its radical Shiite hegemony around the world.”
He concluded that the “only way to prevent a nuclear Iran” lies not in a “fundamentally flawed deal,” but is to “implement a formula that is comprised of diplomatic isolation, crippling sanctions and a credible military threat.”