Iranian President Hassan Rouhani today backed New Delhi’s candidature for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), saying “why India with a population of over 1 billion does not enjoy veto rights at the UNSC”.
"Why India with a population of 1.3 billion does not enjoy veto rights and why does the United States (US) have veto rights," Rouhani questioned during his special address titled 'The priorities of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran', organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in association with the Iranian Embassy.
Rouhani said that at the time of formation of the United Nations, only countries that had a nuclear bomb were given the right to veto.
"If it was based on fairness, it would not have been so," he said.
Veto right in the UNSC lies with the US, the UK, China, France and Russia.
Rouhani further asserted that his country will adhere to the terms of the nuclear deal it signed with world powers till "the last breath" and warned that the US will "regret" if the pact was broken.
Rouhani's comments come after US President Donald Trump had threatened to pull out of the deal. He had sought a review of the nuclear pact.
"We as a country have always adhered (to commitments). We will not violate it (the pact) and will stay on board. It is the order of God. If we are signing the pact then we will adhere to it, till the last breath," he said.
The US is not dealing with Iran alone on the issue of nuclear pact but also with the United Nations Security Council, which has approved the pact, said Rouhani.
The US, he observed, will "regret" if the deal collapses and the people within that country would voice concerns over it.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, was a notable foreign policy achievement of the Obama administration. The deal, struck in 2015 between Iran and six world powers -- the US, the UK, Russia, France, China, and Germany, lifted economic sanctions on Tehran, and in return put limitations on its controversial nuclear energy programme.
President Trump has expressed its reservations about the deal. Last month, he waived sanctions against Iran as required under JCPOA, but warned that it will be the last such waiver if radical changes are not made in the pact.
