Israel Expresses Outrage Over Iranian Diplomatic Engagements at UN

According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, Iran‘s Foreign Minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, met with UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, on Saturday evening on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. This engagement has drawn sharp criticism from Israel’s representative.

Israeli envoy Danny Danon took to social media on Monday to denounce the meeting, attempting to cast a negative light on Iran’s diplomatic efforts. Danon questioned whether the UN official had addressed the conduct of the Iranian government during his discussion with Araghchi. This criticism comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced widespread boycotts of his UN speech by numerous countries.

Earlier reports from the Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth had already pointed out a significant difference in the diplomatic activities of Tehran and Tel Aviv during their respective presences at UN General Assembly sessions. The newspaper noted that Netanyahu’s brief visit to New York and his speech were largely overshadowed by a mass exodus from the hall as he began speaking, as well as the limited number of diplomatic meetings he held. In contrast, Iran’s diplomatic agenda presented at the General Assembly was described as far more dynamic.

According to the report, Araghchi met with representatives from at least 24 countries during his trip to New York, including foreign ministers from major European powers. This stands in contrast to Netanyahu, who held meetings with only nine leaders on the sidelines of the General Assembly, including the President of Argentina, the Prime Minister of Greece, and the new Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša.