Iran, 2000

Allow me at the outset to congratulate Mr. Holkeri on

his election to the presidency of the General Assembly

and to assure him of the full cooperation of the

delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the

discharge of his important responsibilities. I wish also

to register our appreciation for the efforts of his

predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, the Foreign

Minister of Namibia. My thanks and gratitude also go

to our Secretary-General for his tireless and

constructive endeavours on behalf of the Organization.

The world is currently undergoing the most

radical changes ever experienced by mankind. In such

a rapidly changing environment, the main challenge

facing the United Nations is to keep pace with events

and try to play a leading role in directing their course

in a way more compatible with the interests of the

overwhelming majority of the world's population. The

recently concluded Millennium Summit provided a

unique opportunity for global leaders to draw up a

collective agenda for addressing this historic challenge.

As the sole universal body, the United Nations is

uniquely positioned to be the instrument of democratic

global change. It can help to ensure that the process of

change and transformation in the global system is

participatory and fair. The focus of our attention at the

global level over the past 55 years has been on the

preservation of international peace, security and

stability. Despite the tremendous economic and

technological progress that has been achieved, justice

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and universal participation in decision-making and in

the benefits of peace and progress have attracted less

global attention and fewer resources.

As the Secretary-General points out in his

millennium report, the benefits and costs of

globalization have not been evenly distributed. While

world trade has increased more than ten-fold since

1950, over half of the world population continues to

live on less than $2 a day and three quarters of the

world population earn less than 20 per cent of total

global income. The common destiny of humanity in the

age of globalization requires us to reject the illusion of

building islands of affluence, prosperity and stability in

a turbulent sea of war, poverty, disease, ignorance and

insecurity.

Globalization is an economic, social and cultural

reality. It should not just be allowed to happen — it is a

reality that we can and should collectively manage.

One key task is to ensure that the benefits of

globalization are more evenly distributed. The

millennium report of the Secretary-General sets out a

number of realistic and quantifiable targets. Necessary

resources need to be committed and those who have

been mostly on the receiving end of the benefits of

globalization have an added responsibility. The United

Nations machinery should direct and coordinate

bilateral and multilateral efforts in this regard.

Globalization has also further complicated the

global menaces of terrorism, organized crime and drug

trafficking, necessitating the adoption of common and

rule-based strategies to fight and eradicate them.

Terrorism afflicts the entire international community

and must thus be combated in its entirety, regardless of

who its victims or perpetrators may be. In a globalized

world, nothing can justify harbouring or providing safe

haven to terrorists or condoning their activities. No

nation can fight terrorism unilaterally. We need

universal, non-discriminatory and comprehensive

mechanisms to fight terrorism wherever it occurs and

to deprive terrorists of their means of recruitment,

operation and funding.

The role of the United Nations in this regard is

indispensable. In this context, particular attention

needs to be focused on cooperation in the field of

transnational organized crime and drug trafficking,

which, in addition to inflicting their own banes on

humanity, increasingly provide income to terrorist

organizations. We are prepared to participate actively

in any endeavour to combat this scourge.

The menace of drug abuse and trafficking

continues to take a heavy social, economic and

political toll. It particularly afflicts young people, who

embody the future. Combating drug trafficking is a

costly exercise and requires international political will

and serious burden-sharing. The provision of

meaningful financial resources and modern equipment

by target countries can enable transit countries, such as

ours, to combat the problem at a fraction of the cost.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has done more than

its fair share in preventing transit, seizing more than 70

per cent of all narcotics confiscated worldwide. The

financial burden and, more importantly, the human

sacrifice are unsustainable. More than 2,900 Iranian

drug enforcement personnel have been martyred in the

fight against drug traffickers. We appreciate the

cooperation and support extended to Iran by the United

Nations International Drug Control Programme in this

regard, although its limited resources cannot cover the

programmes it wants and needs to implement. It is

important to stress that, in the absence of meaningful

bilateral and multilateral assistance, the Islamic

Republic of Iran will have to allocate most resources to

combating domestic consumption and will not be able

to sustain its fight against drug trafficking with the

same vigour and energy.

As underlined by President Khatami here last

week, the emergence of a world culture is another

reality. But such a culture should not overlook native

local cultures with the aim of imposing itself upon

them. National cultures have gradually evolved in a

process ensuring coherence in spite of the plurality and

diversity that is found in many of them. This process

creates a sense of belonging.

We need the same harmony and sense of

belonging for the emerging world culture. The answer

is participation and not assimilation and imposition.

Last year, I proposed recognition of the right of nations

and peoples to preserve and nourish their culture and

cultural identity. The General Assembly adopted

resolution 54/160 in this regard. We continue to believe

that in the process of globalization, it is essential to

recognize and respect cultural rights of individuals and

communities.

We should transform globalization, particularly in

the area of culture, into a democratic, participatory and

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natural process of globality. The United Nations can

facilitate this process by promoting dialogue for the

exchange of knowledge, experience and understanding

in diverse areas of culture and civilization. The

promotion of global participation in the process will

prevent a sense of alienation and “cultural

homelessness” in major parts of the world.

The designation of the year 2001 as the United

Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations is the

first step in this direction. The unprecedented

worldwide reception of this proposal indicates first and

foremost a general need for dialogue. The round table

on dialogue among civilizations, which was held here

in New York on the eve of the Millennium Summit

with the participation of a significant number of heads

of State, Foreign Ministers and prominent scholars and

thinkers, underlined that dialogue should become the

new paradigm of international relations. This

constituted a proper launching of the United Nations

Year of Dialogue. It must be augmented by serious

programmes and the commitment of all to make this a

meaningful reality which should persist in human

experience long after the United Nations Year of

Dialogue ends. In this context, the Organization of the

Islamic Conference (OIC), which is currently chaired

by President Khatami, has recently adopted a draft

“global agenda on dialogue among civilizations”, to be

submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth

session. We hope that in the course of the next several

months, consultations between various delegations will

lead to further enrichment and the adoption of this draft

at the next General Assembly.

The United Nations can naturally play a leading

role in the democratic global change in the political

scene. Crises in disparate parts of the world challenge

the relevance of the United Nations, requiring it not to

take the back seat.

The situation of Palestine represents a vivid

illustration of the failure of the international

community to provide justice to millions of people

deprived of their homeland and the most fundamental

human rights through State terrorism, aggression and

foreign occupation. Of over 7.5 million Palestinians, 4

million live in diaspora, and many of the rest under

foreign domination. This lies at the heart of the

Palestinian question. Disregarding the joint processes

of expulsion and occupation cannot lead to the

restoration of peace and tranquillity in that volatile

region. In fact, Israel's persistent disregard for the

rights of the Palestinian people, coupled with Zionist

policies of aggression, State terrorism and acquisition

of weapons of mass destruction, continue to pose the

greatest threat to regional peace, security and stability.

Palestine belongs to all Palestinians irrespective of

their creed. Peace can return to the region only through

an end to the occupation of all Arab and Muslim

territories, including the Golan Heights, the restoration

of the rights of Palestinian people, including their right

to return to their homeland, the exercise of their

inalienable right to self-determination through

democratic means and the establishment of their

independent State with Al-Quds al-Sharif as its capital.

The persistence of the tragic fratricide in

Afghanistan, along with the dire humanitarian

situation, violations of human rights, particularly those

of women and girls, the production and trafficking of

narcotics and the harbouring and training of terrorists

have created a human catastrophe. Peace and national

reconciliation can be attained only through abandoning

the illusion of a military solution and the domination of

one ethnic group. The United Nations, through the

Special Representative of the Secretary-General and

the “six plus two” Group, continues to provide the

most suitable mechanism to facilitate intra-Afghan

dialogue aimed at a responsible, broad-based, multi-

ethnic and fully representative government. The

Islamic Republic of Iran has played an active role in

this process. Also, in his capacity as Chairman of the

OIC, President Khatami has undertaken an initiative to

bring the warring factions to negotiations. We are

prepared to continue this exercise in close coordination

with the United Nations.

There are other humanitarian challenges emerging

globally, requiring the United Nations to respond.

Failure to act may bring about arbitrary and

selective — and, naturally, politically motivated —

responses from States and non-universal organizations.

The articulation of the criteria for rule-based reaction

and the allocation of necessary resources and capacity-

building in the United Nations for timely response

constitute two major tasks ahead. As the Secretary-

General has pointed out, prevention through diplomacy

and economic development is the most effective and

least costly type of global engagement.

Good-governance at the international level

requires the provision of rational and comprehensive

mechanisms to ensure security for all. Nuclear

disarmament is the most fundamental priority in this

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regard. It is imperative to initiate multilateral

negotiations for the elimination of all nuclear weapons,

within a time-bound framework and through a

comprehensive and universal convention. The proposal

of the Secretary-General to convene an international

conference on nuclear weapons is a valuable

contribution; such a conference could build upon our

collective achievement during the Nuclear Non-

Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.

Furthermore, following the outcome of the NPT

Review Conference, serious and comprehensive

international pressure should come to bear on Israel to

accede to the Treaty and to put its installations under

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

safeguards. This would pave the way for the

establishment of a zone free from weapons of mass

destruction in the Middle East.

Finally, in reforming global governance, the role

and efficiency of the General Assembly, as the sole

democratic, universal and transparent organ of the

United Nations, must be augmented. It should focus its

deliberations on contemporary challenges rather than

hold outdated debates, coupled with effective responses

to the reports of other organs of the United Nations,

particularly the Security Council.

Efforts to work out a special political role for the

United Nations come at a time when the Organization

is in one of the worst periods of its existence from a

financial perspective. The tasks that the international

community expects the United Nations to fulfil require

more innovative ways of raising money for the smooth

functioning of the Organization.

In this context, it may be instructive to remember

that if only a tiny percentage of the military

expenditures of the Member States were allocated to

the specific activities of the United Nations, the goal of

creating a more secure global environment would be

much more efficiently achieved.

The current session of the General Assembly

follows the Millennium Summit, the Inter-

Parliamentary Union summit, the global gathering of

religious leaders and the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization roundtable on

dialogue among civilizations. As such, it represents a

tremendous and historic opportunity to take advantage

of the political will expressed in those unprecedented

gatherings, to operationalize their declarations and

decisions, and to move the United Nations forward to

an era of stability, justice, peace and good governance,

through participation and the rule of law.

Commensurate with such a historic opportunity, we are

all accountable before our own people and the people

of the world.