Tehran rebukes US decision to provide Ukraine with cluster bombs
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The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry says the US decision is another example of its destabilizing actions.
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US troops carry 155mm Base Burn Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition rounds on July 7, 2023 (AFP)
The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, criticized Sunday Washington's insistence to complicate the war in Ukraine.
On Twitter, Kanaani pointed out that "the US’ decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine reveals Washington’s determination to drag out and complicate the war in Ukraine".
"This action is another example of America's destabilizing actions, as well as the export of weapons that indiscriminately contribute to more killing and destruction," the Iranian diplomat indicated.
تصمیم آمریکا به ارسال بمبهای خوشهای به اوکراین، گویای عزم واشنگتن در استمرار و پیچیدهتر کردن جنگ اوکراین است.
— Nasser Kanaani (@IRIMFA_SPOX) July 9, 2023
این اقدام نمونهای دیگر از اقدامات بیثبات کننده آمریکا Ùˆ نیز صادرات تسلیØاتی است Ú©Ù‡ بدون تبعیض به کشتار Ùˆ ویرانی بیشتر Ú©Ù…Ú© میکند.
The United States announced Friday it will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time.
US President Joe Biden told CNN that the decision to provide the munitions was "very difficult," but that Ukrainian forces were "running out of ammunition."
"They either have the weapons to stop the Russians now -- keep them from stopping the Ukrainian offensive through these areas -- or they don't. And I think they needed them," Biden said.
A new military aid package announced Friday includes "dual-purpose improved conventional munitions," the Pentagon said in a statement, referring to cluster bombs.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claimed that Kiev "has provided written assurances that it is going to use these in a very careful way."
Ukraine pledged that it would not use the rounds in civilian-populated areas, and would record where they use them to assist demining efforts after the war, added US Undersecretary of Defense Colin Kahl.
The United States would also not provide cluster munitions with a "dud rate" of more than 2.35%, Kahl added.
But rights groups have come out strongly against the United States providing the munitions.
Human Rights Watch warned that "transferring these weapons would inevitably cause long-term suffering for civilians and undermine the international opprobrium of their use opposes."
Amnesty International stressed that Biden's administration "must understand that any decision enabling the broader use of cluster bombs in this war will likely lead to one predictable outcome: the further death of civilians."
"Cluster munitions are an indiscriminate weapon that presents a grave threat to civilian lives, even long after a conflict has ended. Their transfer and use by any country under any circumstances is incompatible with international law," it underlined.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also opposed the move, with a spokesperson saying he "does not want there to be continued use of cluster munitions on the battlefield."
On his part, Viktor Bondarev, the chair of the Russian Federation Council's Committee on Defense and Security, made it clear on Friday that the US decision is a dangerous step that will prompt Russia to take appropriate measures in response.
Bondarev affirmed that Russia will respond to the actions taken by the US, including by destroying warehouses with cluster munitions.
It is noteworthy that more than 100 nations have banned cluster bombs due to the threat they represent to populations. They often emit a large number of tiny bomblets that can kill indiscriminately across a large region. Unexploded bomblets can lurk on the ground for years before detonating indiscriminately.
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