Tehran, May 7, IRNA - Iran's Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations Hossein Dehqani on Wednesday urged international community to take a lesson from the World War II and respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all states.

Dehqani made the remarks in a ceremony held to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the end of the World War II.

An extract of his speech to UN follows:

Today the world honored the millions upon millions of soldiers and civilians who perished resisting the Nazi military war machine. That war had devastating impacts well beyond the boundaries of the belligerent forces. People of many countries, including Iran, suffered immensely during that war. The lesser known sufferings deserved particular attention.

One of the lesser known tragedies of that time was the invasion of Iran, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands, in the battlefield as well as from resulting famine and disease. On 4 September 1939, Iran declared its neutrality, a position reaffirmed the following year. However that position was not respected, and the country became entangled.

Iran was already a major producer of oil, which the Powers were keen to exploit, and the Allies invaded in 1941 and occupied the country. Being used as an instrument, foreign Powers devastated Iran and brought nothing but misery. The Second World War would not have happened if there had been a commitment on the part of all States to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all States.

As a founding member of the United Nations, Iran placed the greatest importance on the principles of the Charter and called on States to abide by it.'

By IRNA