OPINION:
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s Sept. 24 speech to the United Nations did not mention Iran’s history of terrorism, the thousands of innocent victims it has killed or the thousands of its own people it has imprisoned.
Nor did it mention the enrichment of uranium at levels close to 90% purity for nuclear weapons or the repeated denial of access to International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to suspected Iranian nuclear sites.
Mr. Pezeshkian made no attempt to deny these allegations, justify Iran’s malign conduct or say that Iran’s leadership will address these accusations and change its behavior.
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Rather, the speech was a recitation of the U.S. leadership’s “bullying mentality.”
Mr. Pezeshkian could have talked about reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the bombing of the infrastructure, airports and civilian areas in neighboring countries. He could have attempted to justify why Iran was militarily striking out at these neighboring countries, when Iran’s adversaries were the U.S. and Israel.
He did not.
Most vivid in the minds of many is Iran’s brutal reaction to peaceful protests in Iran — the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” in 2022, when the so-called morality police arrested a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, for incorrectly wearing her headscarf. She subsequently died in police custody.
Peaceful protests by brave Iranians followed, with the Basij — a paramilitary force under the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — arresting thousands and killing hundreds.
Iran can change its behavior and seek to be removed from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. That means stop supporting its proxies: the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, as well as the Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria. All are funded, armed and trained by the IRGC.
Still, Mr. Pezeshkian said Iran was the victim. Russia and China apparently agreed.
In addition to attempting to justify its war in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia was aligned with the Iranian regime, criticizing the U.S. and Israel for their military operations in Iran. Indeed, Russia continues to supply Iran with real-time satellite imagery and tracking data regarding U.S. troops, aircraft and warships in the Middle East for targeting purposes.
Russia is also reportedly providing military hardware to Iran: explosives, ammunition, drone components and shoulder-fired man-portable air defense systems.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, in addition to touting the impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, criticized the unilateral military actions of U.S. operations in Iran, while not mentioning anything about Taiwan.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese entities had provided Iran with satellite intelligence and thousands of dual-use components during the ongoing war with the U.S. and Israel. The satellite imagery reportedly helped Iran improve missile and drone targeting of U.S. bases in the region, including the U.S. base in Jordan where American service members were killed.
Satellite imagery permits the Iranian military to better track commercial ships and U.S. military escorts in the Strait of Hormuz.
Also of real concern are the reports of dual-use shipments to Iran. In the first half of this year, more than 1,000 air shipments were reported from China to Iran’s defense ministry. These included GPS devices, electric motors, aircraft engine parts and chemical precursors used in ballistic missile propellants.
China is reportedly planning to ship up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers to help Iran rebuild its defenses. There are also concerns that Chinese front companies and banks helped Iran bypass oil export bans and move billions of dollars through barter and credit arrangements.
Whether China ordered or allowed these reported actions is unclear.
The U.S. — supported by Germany, France and Britain — states that military trade, drone transfers and ballistic missile exchanges between Russia, China and Iran are in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231. The U.S. and its allies criticized Russia and China for vetoing a recent U.S.-drafted resolution to extend the mandate of the U.N. Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Iran. The veto obstructed lawful oversight of Iran.
It appears that Russia and China are supporting Iran in its war with the U.S. and Israel.
Mr. Pezeshkian portrayed Iran as the victim, but it is the people of Iran and the innocents killed by Iran-backed terrorists who are the victims.
• The author is a former associate director of national intelligence. All statements of fact, opinion or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the U.S. government.
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