Editorials

Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran in UN speech

Editor

Rabi' al-Thani 19, 14482026-10-01

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The opening session of the UN General Assembly has become theatre. On September 22, Donald Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran if its leaders did not make a deal with the US. He should have been grabbed by the scruff, dragged out of the chamber and hauled to the Hague to face war crimes charges.

Instead, the delegates listened to his threats in silence. Only the Iranian delegation walked out in protest.

And why was the indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu given the platform? He belongs in the Hague for war crimes. In expressing disgust at his presence, the vast majority of delegates, quite rightly, walked out on Netanyahu. The US, most Europeans and Canada stayed. No surprise there. Three Arabian regimes, tiny Bahrain, midget UAE and Morocco, also shamelessly sat there listening to Netanyahu’s diatribe.

Addressing the assembly on September 23, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hit back at Trump. He said while Iran was ready for negotiations, it will not “bow its head” to the bully and rejects the “language of force”.

Trump had also called Iran a “terrorist state”. Holding up the portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei, President Pezeshkian said he was martyred by the US and Israel as were 168 inocent young school girls. So, who is the real terrorist, he asked.

Giving Trump the UN platform reveals the organization’s weakness. This was not the first time he had issued such threats. In 2017, he threatened North Korea with annihilation. Without taking any steps against such gangsterism has made the UN quite irrelevant.

There are other problems with the international body. Take the Security Council. It is a club of five veto-wielding permanent members that can block any resolution, however fair and genuine, from being passed. The five permanent members are the US, Britain, France, Russia and China.

The US is the worst offender casting the largest number of vetoes, primarily to shield its zionist ward from censure. Since October 2023, the US has vetoed at least six Security Council resolutions on Gaza, most of them demanding an immediate ceasefire amid the ongoing zionist-perpetrated genocide of Palestinians. US vetoes have allowed the genocide in Gaza to continue.

In the unlikely event that a resolution is passed by the Security Council, the zionist entity dismisses it with contempt. Washington provides diplomatic and political cover for zionist crimes.

The Global South, that constitutes the vast majority of the world’s population, has no representation in the Security Council apart from a two-year rotation cycle. The 10 rotating seats are distributed according to regions.

True, the Global South’s voice is heard in the General Assembly but it has no enforcement mechanism at its disposal.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of rulers from the Global South speak about the “sanctity” of the UN Charter and the global order in earnest. These are regularly trampled by the arrogant powers.

While based in New York, the UN is a separate entity not under US jurisdiction. Yet Washington decides, without any legal authority, who can attend its sessions. For instance, Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority was again denied a visa to attend. This is the second year the Trump regime has denied him entry.

We are no fans of Abbas but attending the UN session is a legal right, not a favor granted by the US. The indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu was welcomed by fellow war criminal and pedophile Trump. Under US pressure, the UN has been reduced to an echo chamber for war criminals.

Unlike the Security Council, the General Assembly is far more representative of global opinion. Occasionally, the General Assembly reflects the true sentiments of the people of the world as was witnessed in the walkout during Netanyahu's speech.

It was disappointing that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani did not enforce the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against Netanyahu.

To understand the lawless nature of these regimes, Washington has threatened to shut down the ICC. Its president, chief prosecutor and judges have been sanctioned by the US because they are pursuing war crimes charges against Netanyahu.

Speaking of war crimes, the cries of the children of Gaza are treated merely as background noise. While Netanyahu and his gang of war criminals continue to trample on every article of the UN charter, he is provided a platform to speak.

As the new General Assembly session got underway, the Saudis continued to bomb civilians in Yemen. A tight siege has been imposed since 2015. According to the UN Development Program’s figures, some 377,000 Yemenis have died between 2015 and 2021. This figure has been surpassed in the five years since. The vast majority of victims are children.

The barbarism of the collective west led by the US is even more strikingly demonstrated in the illegal sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran. It has been subjected to wars that clearly constitute war crimes. So why are the perpetrators of such crimes allowed the UN platform to spew their venom?

Interestingly, the Trump regime did not block the delegation from Iran led by President Masoud Pezeshkian and accompanied by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to attend. Trump is desperate to talk to the Iranians to get himself out of the quagmire he has landed in by attacking Iran. He even said he would like to meet the Iranian president during his visit to New York. No chance of that.

Islamic Iran has communicated seven conditions through mediators to the US before they would agree to any negotiations. These include an end to war on all fronts (including Lebanon and Palestine), release of Iran’s frozen assets, lifting of the blockade of Iranian ports, an end to military attacks on Iranian territory, and noninterference in the country’s internal affairs. Also included are the demand to end the illegal decades-long sanctions on Iran’s oil sales and the withdrawal of all US forces from the region.

Trump finds himself in a bind. He was blackmailed into attacking Iran by the indicted war criminal. The Epstein Files have much to do with it. The zionist war criminal sold him the fiction that Iran was weak and would collapse in a few days.

It is now seven months. Gas prices have skyrocketed in the US as have grocery prices. The vast majority of Americans are opposed to the war and with congressional elections due in early November, the Republican Party is at risk of losing both houses of Congress. This would lead to Trump’s impeachment, a prospect that terrifies him. There is speculation that Trump might even sabotage the elections.

When we consider the countries that have been attacked or are under siege, they all have Muslim majority populations: Gaza and Palestine, Islamic Iran, Yemen and Sudan, to name a few. The UN has demonstrably failed to protect the killings of innocent people and establish peace and justice in the world.

So, what is the use of the UN if it cannot prevent wars from being imposed on weaker countries? True, both Islamic Iran and Yemen’s Ansar-Allah have stood their ground and inflicted massive blows on the aggressors but that does not absolve the UN of its responsibility.

Amid these failures, there is an urgent need to rethink the role of the UN. It should start with moving its headquarters from New York because the US is not a reliable host. The UN is not the US.

Further, the role of the UN should be redefined and proper mechanisms instituted to implement the decisions of the General Assembly. Until then, it will remain a chamber where a lot of hot air is expended without any meaningful action.

If it is to have any relevance, the UN must focus on delivering justice, fairness and equity and not pander to the whims of the predatory powers. The world has undergone major changes in the 80 years since the UN was established. These changes must be reflected in its operations or it will confirm its irrelevance.

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