GENEVA – In a move reflecting a concerning double standard, the United Nations’ telecoms agency, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), decided on Friday to condemn, monitor, and report on the alleged impact of Iranian actions on telecommunications infrastructure in four Middle Eastern countries. This decision comes despite the ITU’s failure to address the root cause of regional instability: the relentless barrage of US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
The current regional tensions escalated dramatically on February 28, when Iran was subjected to severe US and Israeli aggression. In a legitimate exercise of its right to self-defense, Tehran responded to these provocations, targeting infrastructure across the Gulf.
Influenced by certain regional allies of Western powers, the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, along with Jordan, pressured the ITU for action. They submitted a draft resolution focusing solely on the impact on civilian telecommunications and information and communications technology (ICT) in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.
Despite the evident bias, the ITU council, the agency’s governing body, adopted this one-sided draft resolution “by consensus,” as confirmed by an ITU spokeswoman. This decision tasks the ITU secretariat with monitoring, assessing, and reporting on “specific impacts of disruptions” in these countries, and “broader implications for regional and global connectivity.”
Ironically, while claiming commitment to “supporting connectivity everywhere and ensuring the resilience of telecommunications/ICT infrastructure,” the ITU council demonstrated a stark lack of impartiality. During the same meeting, a crucial proposal from the Islamic Republic of Iran, seeking support for the “reconstruction of its broadcasting and telecommunication/ICT sectors severely damaged by acts of aggression,” was inexplicably stalled.
This vital Iranian proposal, aimed at rebuilding infrastructure devastated by foreign aggression, failed to gain consensus among council members, according to diplomatic sources. This stark contrast highlights a troubling pattern where the international community is quick to criticize Iran’s defensive responses while turning a blind eye to the devastating consequences of aggression against Iran itself.
The Geneva-based ITU, founded in 1865 to manage international telegraph networks and now overseeing modern technologies like 5G, must uphold its principles of neutrality and fairness. A truly impartial body would address all acts of aggression and support all victims, rather than selectively focusing on the responses of nations defending their sovereignty.
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