138. Mr. President, may I add my own sincere congratulations on your election to the presidency of the nineteenth session of the General Assembly to those of the speakers who have preceded me. Your unanimous election to this high office is another welcome manifestation of the universal recognition of Africa’s vital role in world affairs and of the position of respect which African countries have come to occupy in the international community. I am confident that under your capable leadership the deliberations of the nineteenth session of the General Assembly will be particularly successful.
139. Ever since the signing of the nuclear test ban treaty some sixteen months ago, those of us who have spoken before the Assembly have done so against a background of diminishing tension in world affairs. This welcome development is responsible for the continued atmosphere of detente in which our present Assembly convenes, for perhaps the most comforting feature which has emerged from the many important changes on the international scene since the last session has been the repeated assurances of the leaders of both East and West—and this has been reaffirmed today by the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union — that co-existence and the search for a permanent peace will continue to form the guiding principles of their foreign policies. This is an assurance which my delegation and indeed all peace-loving nations of the world have wholeheartedly welcomed.
140. This favourable trend of events in international affairs, however, has suffered certain notable setbacks in the course of the past year. Of these, I may refer to the situation in Cyprus, a development which the Iranian Government views with grave concern. On this issue we should like to express our deep sympathy with our Turkish brothers in their efforts to preserve the legitimate rights of the Turkish Cypriots. The trouble arose when the validity of the constitutional arrangements of Cyprus were brought into question. These arrangements, which embodied safeguards for the Turkish Cypriots, were made for the purpose of maintaining harmony and peace between the two communities,
141. On 4 March 1964 the Security Council [1102nd meeting], recognizing that this was not a local dispute, unanimously adopted a resolution recommending the establishment of a peace-keeping force — in our opinion a very proper and necessary decision. We believe, however, that the present mandate of the United Nations peace-keeping force in Cyprus is limited to such an extent as to make it less effective than it might be. The Government of Iran believes that the presence of the United Nations in Cyprus must be made effective, in order to prevent a catastrophe and to create a quiet atmosphere conducive to an acceptable solution and to the restoration of peace and amity in that region.
142. Peace is an indispensable condition for human progress and its preservation in an international system of sovereign equality, if it is to be more than pious rhetoric, requires constant vigilance. I believe that it is not difficult to agree that, in order to preserve peace until true disarmament becomes a reality, the United Nations should have at its disposal a permanent force capable of guaranteeing the rule of law in international relations. Indeed, many nations have for some time been advocating the creation of a truly international United Nations force composed of armed units of smaller Member nations. In his address at New York University on 4 June 1964 His Majesty the Shahanshah spoke as follows concerning, reliable arrangements for such a force: "A United Nations force is not, of course, the answer to all the problems of keeping the peace; there can hardly be a question, however, that in the future, as in the past, occasions will be many when such a force will be generally agreed to be required as an auxiliary to the United Nations efforts of international pacification on the political level. The earmarking of small continents for service in an international force at the call of the United Nations which some of the Scandinavian countries and Canada have undertaken is a step in the right direction. Iran is prepared to join them in this enlightened policy, and to hold in readiness a detachment of the Iranian Army for service in such an emergency in any part of the world." That is the policy of Iran as declared by the Shahanshah. We believe that in this ever-changing world the United Nations should have a permanent international peace force at its disposal to be used on the authority of the Security Council or the General Assembly.
143. These remarks bring me to the question of the finances of the United Nations. In both monetary and human terms, the United Nations operation in the Congo has become the most costly single action undertaken by the world Organization. Bringing the civil war to an end and assisting the newly-independent State taxed the resources of the United Nations. The lives of many brave men were lost. But, in the words of Secretary-General U Thant: "The presence of the United Nations force has been the decisive factor in preserving the territorial integrity of the country."
144. Such peace-keeping operations of the United Nations require money. The adequate allocation of funds for these tasks which serve the common good should transcend all other national and ideological considerations. Iran is willing, as it has always been, to support these potions with its resources, moral and material. The Government of Iran fervently hopes that the question of financing such operations which involve heavy expenditures will be worked out with the widest possible measure of agreement among all Member States.
145. In this connexion I should like to pay tribute to our Secretary-General for his constant endeavours, since he has assumed office, to resolve the financial difficulties of the United Nations, thus maintaining the Organization’s primary role of preserving peace.
146. The enlargement of the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council which has been finally approved is a source of great satisfaction to my Government. Only in this way could the composition of two such important organs of the United Nations be adjusted to ensure a more just and equitable representation from all areas of the world. I am confident that the ratification of this decision by the Members of the United Nations will proceed with all the speed it deserves, and that the expansion of these two Councils will serve to increase their efficacy. My Government is gratified that thirty-five nations have already ratified the amendments to the Charter. Iran has also given parliamentary approval to these changes and ardently hopes that all Members of the Organization, and the great Powers in particular, will see fit to ratify these amendments at an early date.
147. I wish now to turn to a subject of great concern not to my country alone but to the greater number of nations that are represented here, comprising the overwhelming majority of mankind. I wish to submit once again for the consideration of the Assembly the question of under-development and the plight of the developing countries.
148. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development held in 1964 provided the less developed countries with yet another opportunity to put before the world community certain major aspects of their struggle against their present socio-economic conditions and to seek, in co-operation with the more advanced nations, adequate solutions to their problems.
149. What the developing countries have always sought is an expansion of their trade on a fair and rational basis. This should in no way be interpreted as a quest for charity; for what we are seeking is neither a challenge to the prosperity of the developed countries, nor the reopening of that chapter of history in which the African-Asian countries believe they can find the source of their economic retardation. What the developing countries ask is in the name of justice and in the light of the conviction that lasting universal peace can only be achieved when the evil of under-development has been banished forever,
150. Indeed, the tragedy of under-development presents all the more astonishing and paradoxical a picture when the astronomical sums that are still devoted to enlarging the nuclear arsenal and to the arms race are also taken into consideration. At the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development the Iranian delegation suggested the immediate diversion of from 1 to 3 per cent of the military expenditure of the great Powers into a fund to be created for the execution of any plan aimed at the improvement of international trade and the acceleration of economic development.
151. We still believe that any initiative in this direction would not only be welcomed as an historic step in the establishment of a new order based upon the concept of the long-term interest of all, but that it would allow us for the first time to take the only realistic approach to a permanent solution of the problem of under-development.
152. At the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the seventy-five participating developing nations, facing common problems and bound by a vast identity of interests, forged the foundations of a new unity Indispensable for achieving the adoption of fresh attitudes and new approaches in the international economic field. This unity they also regarded as an instrument for enlarging the area of co-operative endeavour in the international sphere, for securing mutually beneficial relationships with the rest of the world, as well as for increasing co-operation amongst themselves.
153. It was in the spirit of promoting such common regional endeavours and further to strengthen their efforts towards development through active and sustained collaboration that the Shahanshah and the Presidents of Pakistan and Turkey met in Istanbul on 21 July 1964, to lay the firm foundations for political, economic and cultural co-operation among their three countries on a scale unprecedented in the history of the region.
154. The establishment of Regional Co-operation for Development which was the outcome of the Istanbul Conference, will contribute immeasurably to accelerating the economic growth and welfare of 150 million people of the three countries already bound inseparably by close historic ties of amity and brotherhood.
155. Extensive programmes are already under way in the spheres of communication, transportation, petroleum, trade, tourism, joint enterprises and cultural co-operation, in order, when necessary, to establish social, economic and cultural ties between Iran, Pakistan and Turkey and to improve existing relations.
156. I am fully confident that the free association of our three countries, which is a fine embodiment of the spirit of the Charter and which supplements the proven brotherhood of our three peoples, will open new vistas of hope and opportunity, thus strengthening the foundations of peace and accelerating the prosperity of the whole region.
157. For yet another year the world has witnessed the complete disregard for the most fundamental human rights and liberties with which the Governments of the Union of South Africa and Portugal have pursued their misguided policies of apartheid and the suppression of African freedom. On the other hand, the irreversible trend of history towards the liberation of the former colonial peoples is proving, ever more convincingly, that it is only through an intelligent understanding of the nature of colonial problems possible to combine an enlightened concept of self-interest with that of the legitimate aspirations of the former colonial peoples for freedom and independence.
158. The Iranian Government as a member of the Special Committee will persevere to achieve the emancipation of all colonial peoples. We shall continue in our endeavours to this end more vigorously than ever before, until the shameful anachronism of a colonial Africa has been completely obliterated.
159. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, one of the gravest misfortunes besetting mankind today, which bears directly and heavily upon the question of underdevelopment and ranks in magnitude and urgency with it, is the plight of some 700 million inhabitants of the world plagued by the scourge of illiteracy. Their ignorance, which in itself is an outrage to human conscience and the dignity of man, constitutes one of the most formidable barriers to the social and economic advancement of the developing nations.
160. In the light of the conviction that more vigorous and concerted international endeavours were urgently needed to complement national campaigns against illiteracy, the Shahanshah, who had been concerned for a number of years with the problem of world illiteracy and was encouraged by the success and the achievements of the literacy corps of Iran, proposed through UNESCO the convening of a World Congress of Education Ministers of member countries in Teheran. In response to His Majesty's initiative, twenty-bight countries at the thirteenth session of the UNESCO Conference submitted a resolution welcoming and accepting the proposal, which was adopted by acclamation. The Iranian delegation is deeply gratified that His Majesty's personal messages to the Heads of State of member countries of UNESCO as well as his invitation to convene the Congress in the autumn of 1965 in Teheran, have been so warmly welcomed. We are convinced that the convening of such a Congress will demonstrate to the world the heavy responsibility which the Governments of the developing countries have assumed in the battle against illiteracy, as indeed they have done in their attempts at economic development.
161. Our efforts to achieve a speedier implementation of programmes of economic development have by no means been confined to increased co-operation on the international scene. Within Iran the relentless pursuit of the objectives of our revolution, initiated nearly two years ago by my sovereign and overwhelmingly supported by the Iranian people, have brought us nearer than ever to the realization of a society liberated from its archaic structure and striving resolutely to achieve the political and material advancement of its people.
162. To the elaborate six-point reform programmes which formed the blueprint of our revolutionary changes, the details of which I had the honour to apprise the General Assembly at the eighteenth session, [1211th meeting], have now been added other equally significant measures whose effect will be to utilize our human and material resources to the maximum extent.
163. The outstanding success of the literacy corps in Iran, under which secondary school graduates eligible for military service have been given responsibility for combating illiteracy in distant rural areas, has led my Government to launch similar schemes to promote health and development.
164. The health and development corps thus combine the services of literate conscripts with the knowledge and acquired skills of medical graduates, engineers and agricultural experts to provide free medical care, construction aid and expert agricultural advice in the remotest parts of the country.
165. Thus the armed forces of Iran, in addition to their duty of carrying arms in the defence of our independence and territorial integrity, have now been entrusted with new and far-reaching responsibilities in our concerted national endeavours for accelerated development and for the realization of a better life.
166. Finally, may I be permitted, in anticipation of the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the United Year, to express the hope that we, the peoples of the United Nations, with rededicated faith and renewed energy in a spirit of great sincerity and trust, shall continue to seek solutions to the many issues that confront world peace; and that we shall succeed in banishing from the world the evils of hunger, disease, illiteracy and poverty — indeed, of under-development. For I am confident that in its heart of hearts, which is the United Nations, the world will, as it surely must, find its salvation.