Japan trumps Iran to win UNSC seat

NEW YORK — Japan was elected Friday to a nonpermanent seat on the U.N. Security Council for a two-year term beginning in January 2009, displacing a bid by Iran to win the one seat allocated to Asia.

All smiles: Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Yukio Takasu (right) speaks to reporters in New York on Friday. KYODO PHOTO

Austria, Turkey, Uganda and Mexico were the four other countries elected to nonpermanent seats, all receiving the minimum two-thirds majority vote of 128 required from the 192 members of the assembly. The five will fill an identical number of UNSC seats, which will be vacated at the end of December.

Iran — which is under U.N. sanctions for its nuclear program — received only 32 votes from the U.N., losing the seat designated to Asia to Japan, which received 158 votes. The seat is currently filled by Indonesia.

"We believe that this is (the) manifestation of trust and confidence member states have in Japan's role in the Security Council" in peace and security, development, the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, food crisis and climate change, Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Yukio Takasu told reporters.

Turkey and Austria won two seats earmarked for the Western Europe and Others region, defeating Iceland by garnering 151 votes and 133 votes, respectively. Existing nonpermanent members for the category are Italy and Belgium.

Iceland, which had been considered by many to be a strong candidate until the recent economic crisis, received only 87 votes.

"It's a disappointment for us not to get more votes because like other countries, we have gotten a lot of promises that have not been kept," said Iceland's Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir

Gisladottir said her country was going through difficult economic times, but said that no one mentioned this would affect the voting.

When asked if she thought the U.K. freeze on Icelandic banks had affected the vote, she said: "It was not helpful what the British did, enforcing and activating a kind of terrorist law toward a small nation."

Britain used antiterrorism laws to freeze the assets of collapsed Icelandic banks to protect the savings of thousands of Britons and scores of local governments.

Uganda was the sole candidate for the African seat, now held by South Africa, and Mexico was the only candidate for the Latin American seat, now occupied by Panama.

Japan defeated Iran overwhelmingly in view of the confrontation between Iran and other U.N. members, especially the United States and European countries, over its nuclear program.

Japan is also believed to have received support from other U.N. members in light of its position as the second-largest financial contributor to the world body after the United States.

Iran's U.N. Mission released a statement Friday after the election that said the voting was affected by "inadequate opportunities with intense competitions in the Asian group . . . unfair behavior and a false propaganda campaign by certain major powers."

Japan will be taking its place on the Security Council for the 10th time, the most of any U.N. member. Japan's previous stint at council duty was in 2005-2006.

Japan sees Security Council membership as vital for intensifying its bid for a permanent council seat as intergovernmental talks on the proposed expansion of the U.N. membership structure are to begin soon.

"In the course of next year, I am convinced that the momentum of Security Council reform after all so many years will be high," Takasu said.

"We hope that Japan's active participation as a nonpermanent member over the next two years will be conducive to the reform that will include expansion of permanent members and nonpermanent members," he said.

The United States welcomed the election of Japan and four other countries as nonpermanent Security Council members.

"We look forward to working with all of these countries on the most pressing issues facing the Council, including Iran's nuclear program, the situation in Darfur, and other matters related to international peace and security," Robert Wood, deputy spokesman for the State Department, said in a statement.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff pledged to support Japan's bid for permanent membership in the council.

"Of course Japan is a country that we support for permanent membership and the fact that it was elected by such a resounding number of votes also brings us great satisfaction," said Wolff. "We expect them to be an outstanding contributor to the work of the council."

The General Assembly elects five countries each year to fill an identical number of vacated seats. The Security Council consists of five permanent veto-wielding members and 10 nonpermanent members who serve two-year terms.

Gaining permanent Security Council membership has been a long-sought goal of Japan, which has in the past lobbied for the status in partnership with Brazil, Germany and India.

In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said in a statement that "Japan will play an active and constructive role at the Security Council which is tasked with maintaining peace and security of the international community."

"Japan will strive to realize Security Council reform and Japan's permanent membership at an early time," Nakasone said.