Breach of diplomatic immunity by the US: A dangerous precedent
When a group of Iranian students took over the American Embassy in 1979, the International Community was quick to react: Two Security Council resolutions (S/RES/457, S/RES/461), a couple of Presidential Statements were immediately adopted at the UN and every Western country almost instantaneously expressed its outrage at this unacceptable breach of International law and the concept of diplomatic immunity. Even though the act of seizing the embassy was in itself conducted by private actors in the heat of the Revolution, the newly born government of Iran was urgently asked to "release immediately the personnel of the Embassy of the United States of America being held in Tehran, to provide them protection and to allow them to leave the country". Fair enough.
Today, the US military impudently raided the premises of the Iranian Consulate office in the city of Arbil in Iraq, abducted the 6 diplomats present inside the building and took them to an undisclosed location. The raid took place, not by an independent group of any sort, but by soldiers in American uniform, taking direct order from the US military. Now, my guess is that the Iranian people - along with civil societies around the world for that matter - would at least expect the International Community to condemn this indisputable violation of International law and denounce United State's unacceptable breach of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, to which it is party. It is at least expected that the same members of the Security Council whom in 1979 adopted the above mentioned resolutions, now show some degree of decency and express as much as a "concern" over what could become a dangerous precedent in this "war against terrorism". Let's wait and see, but something's telling me it's not going to happen. Rather, it looks like the Snowballs, Napoleons and Squealers of this new "Animal farm" are rewriting the commandments of International law to change the principle of "All diplomats have immunity" to "All diplomats have immunity, but some have more immunity than others".
Today, the US military impudently raided the premises of the Iranian Consulate office in the city of Arbil in Iraq, abducted the 6 diplomats present inside the building and took them to an undisclosed location. The raid took place, not by an independent group of any sort, but by soldiers in American uniform, taking direct order from the US military. Now, my guess is that the Iranian people - along with civil societies around the world for that matter - would at least expect the International Community to condemn this indisputable violation of International law and denounce United State's unacceptable breach of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, to which it is party. It is at least expected that the same members of the Security Council whom in 1979 adopted the above mentioned resolutions, now show some degree of decency and express as much as a "concern" over what could become a dangerous precedent in this "war against terrorism". Let's wait and see, but something's telling me it's not going to happen. Rather, it looks like the Snowballs, Napoleons and Squealers of this new "Animal farm" are rewriting the commandments of International law to change the principle of "All diplomats have immunity" to "All diplomats have immunity, but some have more immunity than others".
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