Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has urged the world body’s General Assembly to suspend the Israeli regime’s membership in response to Tel Aviv’s ongoing crimes against Palestinians, including its banning the operations of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Amir Saeid Iravani made the remarks on Thursday before a UN meeting held to hear a briefing on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

“Iran calls on the international community to take serious action in response to Israel’s actions and to suspend Israel’s membership in the United Nations General Assembly due to its blatant violations of the UN Charter and international law,” he said.

Iravani cited the example of the regime’s informing the UN on Monday of its banning the operations of UNRWA, a move that terminated the body’s decades-long crucial relief practices across the Palestinian territories and put millions of lives at risk.

He denounced the move as an attempt to deprive Palestinians of essential services such as education, healthcare, and humanitarian aid.

“Support for UNRWA and the protection of the rights and security of Palestinian refugees must be a priority for the international community,” the envoy said, asserting that Iran remained committed to supporting the humanitarian agency.

The ambassador also pointed to the regime’s October 2023-present war of genocide in the Gaza Strip, where it has killed nearly 43,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians. 

The regime’s actions “represent not only gross violations of human rights, but also deliberate use of hunger as a weapon, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and creating an unbearable situation for the Palestinian people,” he said.

These measures “poses a direct threat to international peace and security and [the regime] must be held accountable for its actions,” Iravani added.

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