Abbas Aragushi made the remarks on Sunday during a speech at an international conference entitled “International Law Under Attack: Offense and Defense” held by the Institute of Political and International Studies in Tehran, Press TV reported.
He said US President Donald Trump came to the White House with the principle of “peace through force,” but that turned out to be the norm for “hegemony through force.”
He also pointed out that the hegemonic US manifesto, a “return to the predatory”, includes changing the name of the US Secretary of Defense to Secretary of War and testing nuclear weapons.
“The president, who calls himself the president of peace, arbitrarily attacks anywhere he wants, without reason or justification, orders the evacuation of cities, demands unconditional surrender, violates and breaks all international laws and even the promises of his predecessors,” it added.
The recent and unprecedented increase in global military budgets “has only one result: more widespread war, violence and tension. And for good reason. In the jungle America has created, there are no laws, and we must toughen up to protect ourselves.”
Iran’s top diplomat also described Israel as a pawn and appendage of the United States in West Asia and warned that the regime pursues endless and dangerous geopolitical ambitions by attacking the most fundamental principles of international law.
“This regime, dependent on blank checks from Washington and some European countries, emboldened by billions of dollars in NATO and Western weapons and military equipment, and the immunity they have created in international forums, has committed and continues to commit the most heinous crimes against humanity: mass murder, murder, genocide, and ethnic cleansing.”
Araghchi also warned in his remarks that no country in West Asia can escape Israel’s military and security ambitions, as the usurping regime has attacked seven countries in the past two years and occupied new parts of the region in addition to Palestine.
He referred to Israel and the United States’ illegal aggression against Iran in June, saying Tel Aviv opposed the possibility of reaching an agreement through peaceful means and launched the attack ahead of the sixth round of indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the United States in Muscat.
“The truth is that when the Israeli regime attacked Iran on June 13, under the orders and guidance of the US president, the first bomb was fired at the negotiating table between Iran and the United States. There were five rounds of negotiations, and the sixth was scheduled for two days later, on June 15,” he said. “The first casualty of the 12-day war was diplomacy.”
Furthermore, Mr. Aragushi stressed that the Israeli and US invasion of Iran, the martyrdom of scores of civilians, the assassination of commanders in official residences, and the targeting of peaceful nuclear facilities not only violates international law and the United Nations Charter, but also constitutes an all-out assault on safeguards and non-proliferation regimes.
MNA