Key Points
Iran strongly refutes Israeli allegations of weapons smuggling to Hezbollah
Diplomatic tension escalates over UN Security Council Resolution 1701
Iran demands Israel withdraw from southern Lebanon territories
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks on Friday in a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Amar Bendjama, UNSC's rotating president for the month of January, local media reported on Saturday.
His letter was in response to another one by Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon to the UN and UNSC, in which he had accused Iran of "smuggling advanced weaponry systems into Lebanon (for Hezbollah's use) in flagrant violation of UNSC Resolution 1701," reports Xinhua news agency, quoting the official news agency IRNA.
Iravani said Iran roundly rejected the "baseless and incorrect" accusation levelled by Israel, adding the claim was "nothing but a pretext to justify Israel's frequent violations of Resolution 1701 and its "flagrant disregard" for the arrangements of a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, which took effect on November 27, last year.
He stressed that Israel had no intention of remaining committed to its obligations to withdraw from southern Lebanon following the 60-day deadline stipulated in the ceasefire deal, noting that Israel was making "such unfounded" accusations against Iran and Hezbollah to legitimise its "continuing illegal occupation" of Lebanese territories.
Iravani called on the UNSC to adopt a "decisive" position and force Israel to completely fulfil its commitments under the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah and Resolution 1701, immediately stop its violations of Lebanon's national sovereignty and territorial integrity and pull out its troops from southern Lebanon without any delay.
