In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful   Dear Dr. Ansari, Honorable Vice President and Head of the Department of Environment, Mr. Stefan Priesner, Honorable UN Resident Coordinator in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Distinguished Ambassadors and Heads of UN Agencies in Iran, Respected colleagues from the Foreign Ministry, Distinguished participants,   Today, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations, we have gathered to recall the lofty principles and goals of the United Nations, to express our appreciation for the organization’s collective achievements, some of which Mr. Priesner has mentioned, and to reflect on the current troubling global situation and worrisome trends that have emerged internationally. These conditions are the result of certain powers’ failure to adhere to the most fundamental principles and purposes of the United Nations, trends that could place all humanity’s hard-won gains in curbing force, violence, and aggression in grave jeopardy.   Distinguished guests, The United Nations is not merely the largest and only universal symbol of engagement and cooperation for the preservation of peace, the strengthening of collaboration, the promotion of respect for human rights and human dignity, and the advancement of development and prosperity among nations; it also stands as a lasting reminder of humanity’s lessons learned from the pain and suffering of the past.   The United Nations rose from the ashes of a global and devastating war, drawing lessons from the failure of its predecessor, the League of Nations, a body itself created in the hope of preventing a repeat of the First World War. It is thus no coincidence that “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” was inscribed as the foremost purpose of the UN Charter, that “the maintenance of international peace and security” alongside “the development of friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples” were defined as core objectives, and that the “prohibition of the threat or use of force,” the “obligation to respect international agreements,” and the “commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes” were enshrined as fundamental rules in Article 2 of the Charter.   Respect for the equal rights of individuals and nations, embodied in the fundamental principle of the right of peoples to self-determination, requires the prohibition and rejection of all forms of foreign interference in the internal affairs of states, particularly respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity.   Dear friends, Regrettably, since the very inception of the United Nations, the goals and principles of its Charter have been repeatedly violated, manipulated, misinterpreted, and exploited by parties who to this day have failed to free themselves from the colonial illusion of superiority. Thus, only eight decades after the founding of an organization embodying the human ideals of peace, justice, and dignity, our world now faces the nightmare of endless wars, rampant injustices in various dimensions, and the degradation of human dignity by greed and racism.   A brief review of the past century of international relations, and a short reflection on the current state of affairs from West Asia to the Caribbean and Latin America, reveals that gross violations of international law and egregious acts leading to human catastrophes and destructive wars have almost always been committed by powerful actors who see themselves as standing above the law.   In recent years, they have even fabricated the notion of a so-called “rules-based order,” replacing the established “principles and norms of international law” with arbitrary, self-serving, and fluid arrangements.   The “confrontational unilateralism” that now guides the conduct of the United States and its allies has plunged the world into unprecedented insecurity and chaos. This approach rests entirely on these “invented rules,” designed solely to protect unlawful interests. In such a world, the use of force, threats, and coercion become normalized; the violation of legal and international commitments carries no consequences; gross violations of human rights and even the gravest international crimes, including genocide and the erasure of an entire nation, are supported; and, in short, all the principles and ideals of the United Nations are easily disregarded.   Honorable participants, It is no exaggeration to state that the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, and the institutional system derived from it, founded on respect for international law and fundamental norms such as the right of peoples to self-determination, national sovereignty, territorial integrity, the prohibition of the use of force, and the non-intervention in internal affairs, have never been under such pressure, distortion, and violation by powers who, ironically, are entrusted within the Security Council with the maintenance of international peace and security.   It must be said plainly that the United States and some of its allies are the greatest violators of the principles and purposes of the UN Charter. It is enough to consider the actions of the country and the party that, according to the explicit admission of the president of the United States, is regarded as its “deputy or proxy;” over the past two years, while committing the most prolonged genocide in history in occupied Palestine, the Zionist regime has launched military attacks on several countries, carried out acts of terrorism, and occupied the territory of two countries. Meanwhile, all these blatant violations of the principles and objectives of the UN Charter have occurred with the full support and complicity of the United States and certain European parties, to the extent that a state of total impunity has been created for the occupying Israeli regime. The United States has even gone so far as to sanction and threaten judges of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice for investigating the crimes committed in Gaza.   Meanwhile, across the world, in the Caribbean and Latin America, the United States, using the same pretexts long tested in the region, has once again targeted the national sovereignty and right to self-determination of Venezuela and other independent nations. Worse still, it has turned the territory of neighboring countries into staging grounds for preparing and organizing acts of force against others, disrupting friendly relations and good-neighborliness among nations that otherwise would live together peacefully and respectfully under normal circumstances. There is no doubt that these provocative actions and persistent threats by the U.S. against Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, Brazil, and other countries of the region are condemnable and in clear violation of international peace and security.   Honorable audience, Iran has been a steadfast supporter of peace, justice, human dignity, and friendly relations among nations as the core principles of the UN Charter. Although both world wars were ignited in the West by Europeans, their flames engulfed the entire globe, and our own country, despite declaring neutrality, suffered gravely, perhaps even more than some of the belligerents themselves.   It was therefore with genuine concern and hopeful vision that Iran sought to help build a world that would prevent the recurrence of such bitter experiences. During the League of Nations era, the victorious powers of World War I blocked Iran’s participation in the Versailles Peace Conference, though Iran later joined the League.   Iran also played an important role in the drafting of the UN Charter, advocating for clear limitations on the use of force by states and calling for an explicit definition of “aggression” in Article 39 of the Charter.   Throughout these eight decades, despite evident bias within the UN Security Council and certain of its organs, Iran has consistently acted as a responsible and constructive member committed to upholding the principles and purposes of the Charter. Despite the fact that the UN, under the influence and manipulation of the U.S. and its allies, took the aggressor’s side during Saddam’s eight-year war against Iran; despite its later issuance of unlawful and unjust resolutions against us; despite its refusal just months ago to issue even a simple statement condemning the blatant acts of aggression by the U.S. and the Zionist regime against Iran; and despite decades of unfair resolutions and reports under the pretext of human rights, we have never torn up the UN Charter, never called the organization useless, never threatened international court judges, nor declared the Secretary-General persona non grata.   This is the conduct of an ancient, perceptive, noble, and powerful nation, one that distinguishes between genuine moral and legal principles and their manipulation, and understands that when shared moral and human values, the very ones enshrined in the UN Charter, are marginalized, insecurity, chaos, and lawlessness prevail everywhere.   As the Secretary-General mentioned in his message, now is not the time for retreat or passivity. We believe in justice. We believe in a United Nations that truly represents the rights of nations.   On this day, let us not settle merely for expressing ideals, but renew our commitment to realizing them, and build a United Nations that, starting today, can shield future generations from the scourge of war and rescue both the present and the future from its repetition.   In conclusion, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Stefan Priesner, the UN Resident Coordinator in the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose four-year tenure of dedicated service to the United Nations’ mission and to strengthening cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and various UN agencies has now come to an end. Mr. Priesner has worked professionally and conscientiously with my colleagues in the Foreign Ministry and other relevant institutions all these years.   We wholeheartedly wish him the very best and every success in his future endeavors, wherever his next responsibilities after the UN position in Iran may take him, and hope he will be effective and successful always.   Thank you all.