United Nations

A/62/485
Distr.: General 15 October 2007 Original: English

General Assembly

Sixty-second session Agenda item 8 General debate

Letter dated 28 September 2007 from the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly
I have the honour to enclose herewith the text of the written statement of the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in exercise of the right of reply to the remarks made by Nestor Kirchner, President of the Republic of Argentina, on 25 September 2007, at the sixty-second session of the General Assembly (see annex). It would be highly appreciated if you could have the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 8. (Signed) Mohammad Khazaee Ambassador Permanent Representative

07-54094 (E) 221007

*0754094*

A/62/485

Annex to the letter dated 28 September 2007 from the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly
On Tuesday afternoon, 25 September 2007, the President of the Republic of Argentina, in his statement before the General Assembly, raised some absurd allegations against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Our intention is not to delve into details of the seemingly quasi-judicial but utterly political scenario, namely the Amia case, that the President of Argentina referred to, but, rather, to re-emphasize our position in this regard. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always condemned all acts of terrorism wherever and by whomever they are committed. We condemned the Amia bombing and called for the application of justice to those who committed the crime. It is, however, disappointing to see that, after 13 long years, the perpetrators of this terrorist act are yet to be apprehended and brought to justice. The reason for this failure is too obvious to explain. An inefficient and corrupt judicial system, coupled with political rivalries and exigencies, has rendered the Argentine authorities incapable of dealing with the Amia case in a proper and purely legal manner. In such circumstances, the perpetrators of the Amia terrorist bombing have been able to get away with impunity, and instead, a number of innocent Iranian nationals have been unjustly and baselessly accused. Against this background and despite the fact that not a single piece of credible evidence has been provided to prove the involvement of Iranian nationals in that terrorist act, the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran agreed, as a sign of goodwill, to cooperate with the Argentine judiciary on the case in order to remove any misunderstanding caused by years of slanderous fabrications and manipulations, as well as to restore the reputation of the Iranian nationals unjustly harmed by baseless allegations and in the hope that some light will finally be shed on this complicated case. The Islamic Republic of Iran, mindful of the negative impacts those baseless allegations have had on Iran-Argentina bilateral relations for the past decade, has put forward a number of initiatives and proposals to deal with this issue based on the domestic law of both countries as well as on international law. The Argentine authorities are expected to consider these initiatives very seriously and let logic and the rule of law prevail over politics and third-party ploys. The unfounded claims made by the President of the Republic of Argentina did not astonish us, since the news of such an unwise move had been circulated by pro-Zionist media and American proxies well in advance. However, it was expected that the President would exercise vigilance not to be influenced by the biased and hostile political and propaganda campaign directed against Iran in order to undermine the friendly bilateral relations between Iran and other countries, including Argentina. Indeed, this scenario was designed to tarnish the image of Iran by certain parties in the United States and Israel. It had nothing to do with justice, law or even facts.

2

07-54094

A/62/485

It should be stressed that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran resolves to restore the reputation of its nationals harmed by irresponsible allegations and shameless fabrications. In this context, those who collaborated to dishonour the Iranian nationals by levelling unfounded allegations against them will be held accountable. We remind the Government of the Republic of Argentina of its responsibility in this regard.

07-54094

3