News - Middle East: The Islamic Republic of Iran has been elected as one of the five vice-presidents of the United Nations General Assembly from the Asia-Pacific group for the upcoming 78th session of the principal organ of the world body.

On Thursday, UN member states elected the president of the next General Assembly session, which will begin in September with the participation of high-ranking officials and dignitaries from various world countries.
They elected Dennis Francis from Trinidad and Tobago as the president of the 78th United Nations General Assembly, who will assume the presidency of the council in mid-September.
The General Assembly also unanimously appointed Iran's candidate as the rapporteur of the Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Committee of the General Assembly and a member of the board of the committee.
Other countries elected as Vice Presidents of the 78th UN General Assembly are Congo, Gambia, Morocco, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia (Africa), Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan (Asia-Pacific), Estonia (Eastern Europe), Bolivia and Suriname (Latin America), as well as Iceland and the Netherlands (Western Europe and others).
The election was not welcomed by representatives of the US and the Israeli regime in the assembly as they used the podium to speak against the election and level accusations against Iran.
In response, Iran's representative in the session rejected the accusations, stressing that those remarks are not relevant to the Assembly’s agenda item under discussion. 
As a founding member of the Organization, Tehran has always actively participated in the Assembly, valued it as the main policy-making organ, and ensured that the Organization’s agendas align with the international community’s priorities and needs, the representative said, the UN website reported.
He also voiced his regret that certain Members misuse the organ to pursue their political agendas.
Iran's appointments defy the US mission in New York, which has been busy lobbying in diplomatic circles over the past few weeks to block the Islamic Republic's election to the two positions.
Earlier, Iran's candidacy for the post had received the endorsement of 56 members of the Asia-Pacific group.
The UN General Assembly is one of the six pillars of the UN and the only one where all 193 member states have a voice.
It has broad authority in the fields of political, economic, cultural and social cooperation; has the right to discuss and make recommendations on matters falling within the scope of the Charter or any matter within the competence of any organ of the UN, for the purpose of promoting international cooperation on a global scale.