Mr. Vice President:
Draft resolution L.1 is unbalanced and selective. It omits elements that have a considerable impact on the human rights of the Iranian people.
For the sake of time, I will mention only a few examples that demonstrate this:
The draft makes no mention of the criminal and irresponsible attacks perpetrated by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran, in flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law. There is not even the slightest expression of solidarity and support for the innocent victims of these attacks.
Nor does it reject the unacceptable threats from Washington to carry out new military attacks against Iran, or the US government's public incitement of political instability and violence in that country.
No State has the right to intervene in the internal affairs of others, or to threaten or use force. Iran's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected. The future of that nation can only be decided by the Iranian people themselves. No one else.
The draft also ignores the very important issue of unilateral coercive measures.
For decades, the United States and some of its allies have imposed countless unilateral coercive measures against Iran. As a result, millions of people have seen their daily lives and access to basic goods and services affected, including food, medicine, water, healthcare, and transportation, among others.
The Special Rapporteur on Unilateral Coercive Measures has exhaustively documented the serious impact of these measures on the human rights of the Iranian people, with particularly devastating effects on women, children, and the elderly.
If there were legitimate concerns about human rights in Iran, the bill would have included a strong rejection of these measures and demanded their immediate elimination.
In an act of supreme cynicism, some of those who punish the Iranian people with criminal unilateral measures and seek by all means to destabilize the country and justify external intervention are now publicly presenting themselves as supposed allies of the Iranian people.
Mr. Vice President:
Those accused and condemned by this Council are always countries of the South. Punitive and interventionist mechanisms are never imposed on nations of the North. Politicization and double standards must cease.
The only effective way to promote and defend human rights in all countries, without discrimination or selectivity, is through dialogue and cooperation based on impartiality, mutual respect, and non-interference.
For the reasons stated above, Cuba will vote against draft resolution L.1.
I thank you