Where is the UN Secretary Gerneral Ban Ki-moon ?

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has remained surprisingly silent and out of sight during the rising tensions between Iran and the United States. The only statement I have seen from UNSG is a statement issued last week in which he "asked the parties to resolve their differences through peaceful means, but stressed that it is Tehran's responsibility to prove their nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only." It is clear that the UNSG is not interested in utilizing the UN Secretary General's office to mediate between Iran and the Western powers. It is useful to compare his approach to his predecessor Javier Pérez de Cuéllar who served as UNSG during the eight year war between Iran and Iraq. He was an active UNSG who mediated between Britain and Argentina in the aftermath of the Falklands War, helped with a peace process in Central America, assisted in the negotiation with the independence of Namibia, and even tried to resolve the intractable conflict in Cyprus. But his most important accomplishment was opening the path of negotiation for Iran by traveling to Tehran several times and engaging the Iranian government and encouraging it to go for the UN Resolution 598 that called on Iran and Iraq to "cooperate with the Secretary- General in implementing this resolution and in mediation efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and honourable settlement, acceptable to both sides, of all outstanding issues in accordance with the principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations." But most importantly, Pérez de Cuéllar's engagement with the Iranian leadership gave him the understanding of how important it is for them to have the United Nations acknowledge the injustices committed by Saddam Hussein and the fact that it was Iraq who started the war in 1980. Article Six of the Resolution requested that "the Secretary-General to explore, in consultation with Iran and Iraq, the question of entrusting an impartial body with inquiring into responsibility for the conflict and to report to the Security Council as soon as possible."

The South Korean diplomat was elected Secretary General in 2006, was re-elected for a second term in June 2011 without any competition. He is clearly pro-American and campaigned very hard for the position of UNSG. With the exception of Darfur situation in which he took a strong position and pushed for peacekeeping troops to enter Sudan, Ban Ki Moon has not tried to use his office and position to mediate any conflict, particularly if such involvement may upset his supporters in Washington and London. The case of Darfur is obviously very popular in US Congress, so he did not have to run the risk of alienating anyone in Washington. But mediating between Iran and the Western powers takes courage and leadership, requiring a person with a long-term vision and commitment like Pérez de Cuéllar. It is not surprising that one UN official has criticized him for "leading the global institution into an era of decline."

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