Bosnia and Herzegovina’s co-sponsorship of a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Iran’s attacks on several Gulf countries could harm the country and brings no benefit, Bosnian Presidency member Željko Komšić said on Thursday.
The U.N. Security Council adopted the resolution on March 11 at the proposal of Bahrain, calling on Iran to immediately halt attacks on neighboring countries and condemning strikes on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Bosnia and Herzegovina was listed as one of the co-sponsors.
Komšić said he had previously told Bosnia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Zlatko Lagumdžija, that he opposed Bosnia joining the initiative.
“At the same time there was talk of a Russian resolution condemning the attack on Iran. I also told Lagumdžija I opposed Bosnia joining that one as well, because I consider it hypocritical after everything Russia has done in Ukraine,” Komšić said in a statement from his office.
A day earlier, Bosnian Presidency member Željka Cvijanović had requested an urgent session of the Presidency to discuss whether Bosnia should sponsor the resolution.
Komšić said no country had formally asked Bosnia to co-sponsor the text, adding that Cvijanović had spoken with a representative of the United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry who had raised the issue.
“None of us — not even the United States — asked that we co-sponsor it. There was therefore no reason to jump into such a geopolitical divide and now have to explain why we did this as a state,” he said.
Komšić said he scheduled a Presidency session in line with procedures after receiving Cvijanović’s request but that it could not be held before the Security Council meeting at which the resolution was adopted.
“Why Bosnia joined the resolution is a question that should be addressed to other people and institutions, not the Presidency,” he added.
Komšić also argued that the resolution condemns Iran for attacks but does not mention that, under the U.N. Charter, a country has the right to defend itself if attacked.
“Iran did not start these activities first; they were directed against Iran. The actions Iran carried out can be characterised as defensive,” he said.
Bosnia’s three-member Presidency, responsible for foreign policy, has not issued a joint statement on the conflict involving Iran, which escalated after a joint U.S. and Israeli attack on Feb. 28.