Israel slams UN rights council for giving floor to Iran

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By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA (Reuters) -Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva has raised “vehement objection” to Iran addressing the Human Rights Council ahead of talks with European counterparts in Geneva to try to de-escalate the Israel-Iran conflict, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

“Affording the Iranian foreign minister the floor before this body continues to undermine the council’s credibility and constitutes a blatant betrayal of the many victims of this regime worldwide,” Daniel Meron said in a letter addressed to council president Jurg Lauber.

The council said on Friday Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was due to be given the floor. Shortly afterwards, he was due to hold talks with the European Union foreign policy chief and his counterparts in Britain, France and Germany in order to de-escalate the conflict.

In the letter, Meron accuses Iran of using the council as a international stage to “promote the regime’s despotic campaign.”

On Wednesday, the Iranian ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva addressed the council and accused Israeli attacks as representing an act of “war against humanity”.

The rights council media office shared minutes from a meeting on Thursday, which stated that Lauber had granted Araghchi permission to address members in accordance with U.N. rules allowing exceptional addresses to the council by heads of state or senior ministers.

Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying it aimed to prevent its longtime enemy from developing nuclear weapons. Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel.

It says its nuclear programme is peaceful.

(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by Friederike Heine and Andrew Cawthorne)