Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi on Friday called for sweeping reforms to global governance institutions while condemning attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure in Iran during his address at the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi.
Speaking during a session titled “Rebuilding the Global Order: The Necessity of Reforming International Governance and Revival of Multilateralism,” Araghchi accused the United States and Israel of carrying out attacks on Iranian civilians, schools and key infrastructure during strikes that he said began on February 28.
“The military aggression of the aggressors, which began at 9:30 am on Saturday, February 28, did not even give schools a chance to close and students to return to their homes,” Araghchi said.
The Iranian foreign minister alleged that after what he described as a “terrorist act” targeting Iran’s Supreme Leader and the onset of military operations, the Minab School was struck in a second attack before students could be evacuated.
According to Araghchi, the Iranian government had announced the closure of schools nationwide immediately after the incident involving the Supreme Leader and the start of hostilities. However, he claimed that “the aggressors did not even give children half an hour to survive and targeted the Minab School with a second attack.”
He also accused the attackers of targeting civilian infrastructure, including refineries, petrochemical complexes, bridges, railways, stadiums, cultural sites, energy transmission lines and industrial facilities, calling them attacks on “the backbone of people’s daily lives.”
“If today we remain silent in the face of the suffering of the Iranian people, in the face of the unjustly shed blood of citizens, in the face of the terror of children in schools in Minab, and in the face of attacks on infrastructure, tomorrow this cycle of violence and instability could spread to any other part of the world,” he said.
Araghchi urged governments and international organisations to condemn attacks on civilians and infrastructure and reject what he termed “double standards” in responding to global conflicts.
“The international community must abandon double standards and show that the life of a child in Minab is as valuable as the life of a child anywhere else in the world,” he said.
Shifting focus to global governance, Araghchi argued that reform of the United Nations Security Council was essential for the future credibility and survival of the United Nations system.
“We seek a Council that truly represents all continents and regions of the world, a Council in which power is distributed responsibly and fairly, and not just in the interests of a few abusive and aggressive powers,” he said.
Highlighting the growing role of BRICS, Araghchi said the bloc could emerge as “the backbone of true multilateralism.”
“In BRICS, we must work not to create a confrontational bloc, but to create a strategic balance,” he said, adding that stronger economic, financial and technological cooperation among BRICS nations could reduce dependence on “monopolistic structures” and promote greater independence and sustainable development.
“It is time to move from crisis management to structure management. We need an order in which peace, the product of justice and stability, is the result of universal participation,” Araghchi said.
(With inputs from ANI)