Geneva: Ambassador Abdulla Abdullatif Abdulla, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations Office and other international organisations in Geneva, delivered a statement on behalf of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan during the joint interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, as part of the 61st session of the Human Rights Council.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the statement affirmed the strong condemnation by GCC member states and Jordan of the blatant attacks carried out by Iran against the territories of a number of Arab countries, which targeted civilian areas and vital infrastructure, posing serious risks to civilian populations and to regional security and stability.
The statement further stressed that targeting third states not party to any conflict constitutes a clear violation of state sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as a breach of international law, and cannot be justified under any pretext. In this regard, it welcomed the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2817, which strongly condemns the reprehensible attacks targeting the Kingdom of Bahrain and other countries in the region and calls for their immediate cessation.
The statement also noted the rejection by GCC member states and Jordan of the characterisation in the reports of the Special Rapporteur and the Fact-Finding Mission describing these attacks as "retaliatory strikes," affirming that such characterisation lacks any legal or factual basis and may lend unwarranted legitimacy to unlawful acts of aggression under international law.
Furthermore, GCC member states and Jordan called on the Special Rapporteur, the Fact-Finding Mission, and the relevant mechanisms of the Human Rights Council to accurately reflect the true nature of these attacks and to explicitly condemn this unjustified aggression, while emphasising the necessity for the Islamic Republic of Iran to comply with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2817.