Explanation of Vote of Iran
January 26, 2007

General Assembly Plenary
Agenda Item: Culture of Peace
Resolution on Holocaust Denial

Madam President, I wish to place on record my delegation’s deep concern over and rejection of the attempts made by the certain members to misuse the General Assembly’s procedure to raise an issue that has never been on the agenda of it’s 61st session, nor has it any relevance to the agenda item under which the resolution at hand has been tabled.  There is every reason to believe that today’s attempt is both procedurally and substantively flawed.  Indeed, the intention behind this move can by no means be regarded as a genuine one.  The main sponsors aim to present this draft resolution to the assembly lies and the mischievous intention to pursue their narrow political interests through all means including the misuse of this august body.  Madam President, if the thrust of the draft resolution is to condemn the crime of genocide, the assembly, through a great number of resolutions, has already addressed this concern of grave nature. We, like many other countries, have condemned genocide against any race, ethnic, or religious group as a crime against humanity.  We reiterate this unambiguous position in this meeting today.  In our view, there is no justification for genocide of any kind, nor can there be any justification for the attempts made by some, particularly by the Israeli regime, to exploit the past crimes as a pretext to commit new genocides and crimes.  Moreover, many of current cases of genocide that have regrettably occurred throughout history necessitate a thorough and comprehensive examination by the international community in order to prevent the recurrence of such crimes in the future.  Imposing a restrictive approach on such an examination, will not certainly serve this purpose.  Only by studying objectively what happened in the past can we ensure that such crimes will never be repeated again.  Undoubtedly, addressing historical even some horrific enormity with the view to avoiding their recurrence requires a commensurate degree of research, scrutiny, and rigor.  The seriousness and sincerity of this endeavor will be indeed undermined by a rendering of political judgments on such events and closing the door to any inquiry on the [inaudible], the scope, and extent.  The basic principles of democracy, including the right to freedom of expression and belief, should pave the way for exploring different aspects of historical events without any arbitrary restrictions.  Moreover, genocide and immense sufferings associated with that horrific crime should not be manipulated for political purposes.  Regrettably, the Israeli regime has routinely attempted to exploit the sufferings of the Jewish people in the past as a cover for the crimes it has perpetuated over the past six decades against Palestinians in the occupied territories including massacres, targeted assassination, ethnic cleansing, and state terrorism.  The international community should take strong action against such atrocious crimes of that regime and not allow it to manipulate humanitarian sentiments to pursue its illegitimate goals.  We are of the view that the main aims behind tabling this resolution are anything but a true concern about genocide or the sufferings it brings about.  Had it not been the case, the main sponsors of the draft resolution must have referred to other cases of genocide perpetuated in various parts of the world in the past and present especially the crimes perpetuated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Palestine, Rwanda, and the Balkans that have inflicted enormous suffering and pain to the mankind.  In view of the above, we fully disassociate ourselves from this entire hypocritical political exercise.  Thank you, Madam President.