The transfer of UN headquarters from the United States to the territory of another country would be an important decision, for which Iran is ready to cast its vote. This was stated by President of the Republic Hassan Rouhani, speaking at a press conference in New York.

“If asked, we will vote for the UN headquarters to be moved to a safer and better country,” said Rouhani, adding that the United States does not have the right to prevent UN delegations from coming to New York.

He also emphasized that "the United States should not take advantage of it as a host and only issue visas to those they like." His words are quoted by Interfax.

Recall, the 74th session of the UN General Assembly is being held in New York from September 24 to 30. The Iranian delegation had difficulty obtaining US visas for a trip to the UN headquarters. On the eve of the start of events, the Iranian president’s administration announced a refusal by the American side to provide visas for the delegation accompanying Hassan Rouhani, as well as to journalists from the presidential press pool.

Restriction policy

Earlier, US Vice President Mike Pence announced Washington’s intention to limit the number of visas for members of the Iranian delegation in an interview with CNBC. The official explained these plans by recent attacks on Saudi oil companies, which the United States blames on Tehran.

“We are introducing new harsh sanctions against Iran so that it bears responsibility. We will limit the number of visas for Iranian officials who can arrive at the UN General Assembly, ”Pence said.

In addition, according to Fars, the US authorities have limited the possibility of moving Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to New York during the UN General Assembly. The politician cannot leave the organization’s headquarters on his own, and he was also forced to obtain special permission to stay at the hotel.

  • Vasily Nebenzya
  • RIA News
  • © Alexander Shcherbak

A similar situation was with the Russian delegation: some of its participants were denied visas for a trip to the UN General Assembly. The United States Embassy in the Russian Federation refused to comment on this decision, calling the incident "a special case of filing applications."

In the Kremlin, this step of the American authorities was called a direct violation by the United States of its international obligations.

“This is not a bilateral visit, it is a visit of the Russian delegation to the UN General Assembly. America provides its territory to the UN headquarters, and in fact, the only thing America has the right to do is restrict, for example, the stay of members of the Russian delegation to one New York city, ”said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian president.

Moscow does not rule out a “harsh reaction” from Russia and the UN to the actions of the American leadership, Peskov added.

Washington’s attempts to limit the participation of Russian representatives in international events were not limited to this incident. According to the RF Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya, the United States refused visas not only to some Russians going to the UN General Assembly, but also some delegates from the Russian Federation who were preparing to speak at the Conference of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBT). Nebenzya called the incident “an ugly situation” and recalled that Moscow had once been forced to block the conference due to the fact that the United States did not let Russian delegates attend it.

“The pretexts for issuing a visa do not matter to us, because the host country of the headquarters is obliged to fulfill the agreement with the United Nations,” Nebenzya added.

In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the actions of the American side an “outrageous incident” and called for thinking about moving international events from the US to “more stable venues” that would more responsibly fulfill the responsibilities of the host country.

Note that the question of moving the UN headquarters from the United States has been raised in Russia before. In 2015, such an initiative was taken by State Duma deputy Igor Zotov: a parliamentarian sent a letter to the UN Secretary General urging him to move the organization’s headquarters to Switzerland.

Collective decision

The United Nations was established in 1945 after representatives of 50 countries signed its charter . The first UN session was held in London in 1946, at which members of the organization voted to host the UN headquarters in the United States. According to Gennady Gatilov, Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Office in Geneva, in his article published in the journal International Affairs when deciding on the future location of the organization’s headquarters, Vyacheslav Molotov, who was then USSR Foreign Minister, suggested The Soviet leadership insisted on moving the headquarters of the successor to the League of Nations to Vienna. However, Joseph Stalin rejected this idea, believing that the deployment of the UN headquarters in the United States would lead to a stronger relationship between Washington and the organization. This, in turn, according to Moscow’s calculation, should have allowed Washington to influence through the UN and prevent the United States from leaving the organization.

  • First Session of the UN General Assembly, London, 1946
  • AFP
  • © STF

In addition, Stalin then put forward another proposal - to place the UN headquarters in Sochi. This was told to journalists by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“By the way, when the creation of the UN was discussed and reached the location of the headquarters, Joseph Stalin suggested that it be located in Sochi. It was insightful, ”Lavrov said in an interview with Kommersant.

However, in the end, Moscow supported New York as a place for the permanent deployment of UN headquarters.

However, already in the early 1960s, the Soviet leadership was disappointed in this decision, noting that the US authorities had a negative impact on the course of discussions at the UN. About this, in particular, writes the doctor of historical sciences Vladimir Schweitzer in his article "USSR - Austria: on the turns of world politics."

In Moscow, a discussion began on the possibility of moving the UN headquarters to Vienna, especially since the Austrian leadership announced their readiness to host some units of the organization on its territory. But it didn’t come to the implementation of these plans, because the transfer of headquarters required the consent of the United States at the UN Security Council level.

As Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of Moscow State Pedagogical University, explained in an interview with RT, at the time the UN was created, the United States was a country of the anti-Hitler coalition, and US President Franklin Roosevelt played a significant role in creating the organization.

“The deployment of the UN headquarters in the United States was a collective decision, and then it was in principle difficult to imagine that any country could pursue such a political line as the United States can afford today,” Shapovalov emphasized.

According to the political analyst of MGIMO, Victor Mizin, due to the supply of arms to its European allies, the United States withdrew from the Second World War with large dividends. At the same time, the expert recalled that at that time Washington was still considered an ally of Moscow, capable of providing suitable conditions for the construction of the UN building.

“Subsequently, the issue of placing the UN headquarters in a neutral country was repeatedly raised, this always happened when once again it was difficult for some delegations to enter the United States. But then these discussions subsided, not least for financial reasons, because moving the UN headquarters is a very big expense, ”the expert said.

“Moscow should give an answer”

According to political scientists, Washington’s decision to deny part of the Russian and Iranian delegations visas for a trip to the UN General Assembly is an unprecedented step and the continuation of the sanctions policy.

  • Vienna, Austria
  • globallookpress.com
  • © Herbert Berger / http: //imagebroker.com

“Today, relations between Russia and the United States are at a lower point than they were at the peak of the Cold War, when the actions of the countries were more predictable. Now Moscow really should give a decisive answer to Washington’s actions, it would be right to raise this issue in the UN Security Council. However, I doubt that it will be possible to move the organization’s headquarters from the United States, but this topic still needs to be raised, ”said Victor Mizin.

A similar point of view is shared by Vladimir Shapovalov. According to him, the refusal to issue visas to members of the Iranian and Russian delegations is a demonstrative violation of the norms and principles of international law.

“The UN represents the interests of the whole world and cannot depend on the dictates of the USA. Therefore, the issue of headquarters being located on the territory of a state that respects the organization’s rules is now being updated. The movement for the transfer of headquarters can be a serious enough topic, although Washington will direct all its efforts to drown out these conversations, ”summed up Shapovalov.