Preliminary Remarks by H. E. Mr. Javad Amin-Mansour Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative The Islamic Republic of Iran 67th Session of the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board Geneva - 2 July, 2020 بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم   I would like to congratulate you, Mr. Ambassador VILLEGAS, for your election as President of the 67th session of the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board, during the Covid-19 outbreak and its huge adverse impacts on the global trade, investment and development. You can count on the full support of my delegation. My congratulations also go to the other distinguished members of the Bureau. I also would like to take the opportunity and admire Mr. Ambassador Michael Gaffey of Ireland, who presided over the 66th session of the TDB in an excellent manner. We thank the UNCTAD secretariat for the preparations and virtual arrangements, which are unprecedented for the TDB sessions. My delegation will make several statements on the agenda Items 2, 3 and 13 of this session and express my Government’s views and positions on the issues under consideration in the course of the debates. Mr. President, Distinguished delegates, It is my great honor and privilege to represent, together with the distinguished Ambassador of Lebanon, Asia and Pacific Group in the bureau of the 67th session of the TDB. I am thankful to all member States of my Group and all other States for their invaluable support. Although I am reluctant, at this moment, to refer to the comments of the representative of the United States, which you read out at the beginning of this august body. I have to express my regret that the US made a reservation on the membership of my Government in the Bureau. The UN system in general and UNCTAD in particular, belong to all Member States and, therefore, they have the right to be actively involved in the process of decision-making and participate in the discussions in the main and subsidiary bodies. In addition, that is the right of UN regional groups to introduce their own candidates for membership in the bureau of each intergovernmental forum. Any kind of unwarranted and politically-motivated objection or reservation by one Member State against membership of another State from another regional group in international fora, is indeed violation of the rights of sovereign states and is counted as a threat to multilateralism. We are here to identify how best the international community could intensify its endeavors to overcome the challenges related to trade and development in a cooperative manner. I am sure everybody would agree with me that only positive and constructive positions will be helpful to our discussions. I request, herewith, to include the last part of my comments in the final report of this session as a reply to the position of the United States.   I thank you, Mr. President.