SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
New Delhi: Gulf countries hosting American bases not only “provided logistical help but fully supported” the US in carrying out a military attack on Iran, a top official of the judiciary in Iran alleged on Friday, August 21, and claimed that if they had not played such a role, Tehran could have “won the battle much earlier”.
At a seminar hosted at Iran Culture House, head of the Centre for Attorneys of the Judiciary of Iran Hasan Abdolianpour, who is leading a nine-member Iranian delegation to India, without naming any Gulf country, also indicated that Iran could pursue the cases of “violations” by its neighbouring countries by taking the cases to “international courts”.
The theme of the event was ‘US Attack on Iran Under International Law: Aggression or Self-Defence?’ and it was attended by members of the delegation and many foreign policy experts and Persian scholars.
Abdolianpour, also a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), in response to a query from an audience, said Gulf countries hosting US bases not only “provided logistical help but also fully supported” the US in carrying out the military attack on Iran.
He spoke in Persian, and his remarks were interpreted in English and Urdu at the seminar.
‘Iran will raise this issue internally, at international fora’
“From a legal standpoint, I can say that Iran will raise this issue, both internally and at international fora,” Abdolianpour said.
He said that the way Iran considers the US and Israel guilty, the Gulf countries hosting US bases, who supported them, will also be “treated similarly”, adding, Tehran feels, had they not supported the US, ‘we could have won the battle much earlier.’”
During the seminar, Abdolianpour, in a detailed talk, outlined the Iran conflict as seen through the prism of the UN Charter and international humanitarian laws and asked how the US-Israeli military operation against Iran could be justified through these laws.
Other delegates reiterated Iran’s accusation that “civilians and civilian infrastructure”, including a school in Minab, a small city in southern Iran, were being bombed in the military operation in which several children have been killed as per international reports.
At the seminar, a panel carried photos of some of the children from Minab, with the caption, “No war on children”, and guests were also handed photos of some of these children affected by the ongoing conflict that began with the US-Israeli combination carrying out air strikes on Iran on February 28.
Tehran, in retaliation, attacked neighbouring Gulf countries hosting US bases.
Efforts to build lasting peace in West Asia in these nearly six months have not met much success.
‘Iran can forgive other nations if things are normal again’
Later, interacting with PTI, Abdolianpour, when asked about Iran’s stance on its neighbouring countries in the Gulf, said, “We had many good relations with our neighbours, and although this attack and this aggression happened, I think our nation can forgive other nations if things are going to be normal again, and we will continue peaceful relations with our neighbours.”
On whether Iran is planning to take the matter to the international court, he said, “We will do our best. We are using some professional attorneys and lawyers, and we will refer to universal jurisdiction in other countries to follow these cases according to international law, and even we will follow that in the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court.”
‘That we are a threat is an illusion’
Israel and the US have justified the attack on Iran, saying that the country’s nuclear programme was an “existential threat” to them.
“This is the kind of illusion that we are a threat. We are not a threat to any other country, and we are completely… we have peaceful relations with all of our neighbours and with all of the countries. And throughout history, we didn’t attack any other country. And nowadays, we are resisting our enemies, and we are following sustainable relations with all of the countries,” Abdolianpour said.
He alleged that “the US and the Zionist regime” had many objectives in attacking Iran, as they wanted to “change our regime or even occupy some of our territory and some of our lands.”
“But you see that they did not meet any of these objectives. They failed completely. And now we are resisting. We are standing in front of the attack against our country. And nowadays we are still standing, resisting, and we do all that we can to stand against our enemies,” the top lawyer said.
The Iranian delegation, which includes a woman member, is visiting India to take part in a meeting of the BRICS Legal Forum, to be held in Delhi this week, he said.
SOURCE : SIASAT
