During his speech at a UN Security Council meeting to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, Takht-Ravanchi underlined that multilateralism is facing many challenges and needs to be addressed to strengthen the rule of law, international cooperation, and interaction.

Stating that the main lesson humanity has learned from World War II is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, He said: ”We have only one choice, that is to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations under international law can be maintained.”

“The illegal unilateral actions of the U.S., with its excessive addiction to sanctions and economic terrorism as well as its policy to withdraw from international instruments and institutions, are alarming,” he warned, adding that such bullying policies and unlawful practices are growingly eroding the pillars of multilateralism, tarnishing the credibility of this Organization and mainly the Security Council.

He concluded his speech as follows: “Today, multilateralism is not only an option, but it is also the only option. There is no magic solution or alternative; as challenges such as coronavirus do not recognize boundaries and thus cannot be managed with one country or certain countries alone, no matter how powerful they are. Let’s be united in pursuing the common goods of all states and in promoting true multilateralism founded on inclusion instead of exclusion; cooperation in place of confrontation; and the rule of law instead of the rule of power.” (ILKHA)