Official: Turkey Agrees with Iran on Reforming UN Structure
TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Turkish official voiced her country's agreement with Iran's demand for drastic changes in the structure of the United Nations (UN). March 8, 2013 FARS News Agency http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107150866 "The United Nations and the European Union are structures meant to serve the international peace and stability, but they are obviously not performing their meant and expected responsibilities," Turkish Women and Family Affairs Minister Fatemeh Shahin said, addressing the Women's Conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday. She pointed to Iran and Turkey as two friendly and neighboring countries, and underlined that the two countries share the view that international bodies, including UN, need overhaul. In November, Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mohammad Khazayee underlined the necessity for changing the UN Security Council's decisionmaking mechanism, and said the UNSC should also pay attention to the views of nonmember states. "The non-member states which are addressed by discussions at the Council should have the opportunity to state their positions and views in the UNSC's general sessions," Khazayee said, addressing a meeting of the UNSC in New York at the time. He said that the considerations and views of the non-member states stated in different meetings should be paid attention and be reflected in the annual report of the UNSC. In relevant remarks in August, President of the UN General Assembly Nasser Abdulaziz also stressed the necessity for reforming the world body's structure. "The UN Security Council needs reforms to adapt itself to the new realities in the world," Abdulaziz said, addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran at the time.

He added that the UN General Assembly has already discussed the need for restructuring the UNSC, and reached some results. He noted that the UN General Assembly can provide a better room for international cooperation among members. His remarks came after Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei also said that "the UN Security Council has an illogical, unjust and completely undemocratic structure and mechanism." "This is a flagrant form of dictatorship, which is antiquated and obsolete and whose expiry date has passed. It is through abusing this improper mechanism that America and its accomplices have managed to disguise their bullying as noble concepts and impose it on the world," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing the inauguration ceremony of the NAM summit in August.