In the Name of God
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Distinguished Colleagues,
The representatives of Iranian workers and employers, together with the government, decided to participate virtually this year due to the heavy costs imposed by war.
War causes unemployment, tears families apart, leaves children orphaned, destroys homes and factories, and pollutes the environment. Yet its greatest cost is the domination of violence over the human spirit.
War is a warning that humanity stands on the brink of barbarism. I have little to add to what I had the honor of stating before you last year.
Let us return to the Philadelphia Declaration, which recognizes peace and social justice as the two pillars of prosperity for all humanity, especially workers—principles upon which the International Labour Organization itself was founded.
As last year, while I commend the ILO report documenting crimes committed against children and workers in Gaza, we must not limit ourselves to recording the costs of war. We must strive to prevent war itself.
As I noted last year, let us learn from the experiences of the First and Second World Wars. Wars may begin against oppressed nations, but their flames ultimately engulf everyone.
Look at the wars today. The President of Venezuela has been abducted, and the threat of war has reached Europe’s doorstep. Which country has remained unaffected by attacks on Iran? Which nations are safe from the fire of war? European, Asian, or African workers? In truth, workers around the world have become hostages of those who profit from arms production.
Military capitalism has sacrificed humanity for the benefit of weapons manufacturers.
Last year, I concluded by urging you not to remain indifferent. International organizations are not part of Hollywood. The International Labour Organization was established to confront the greatest enemy of workers’ interests—war—and it cannot remain silent in the face of those who initiate it. It is my duty to thank all labor unions that firmly condemned what they described as aggression and terrorism by Israel and the United States against Iran. As our martyred leader stated: you stand on the right side of history. Therefore, I respectfully call on the Director‑General of the ILO to dedicate a conference next year to war and the world’s workers.
We gather here to discuss the prohibition of child labor. But is the suffering imposed on children by war any less destructive than child labor itself? Let us condemn both. Can decent work face any greater obstacle than war? In defending workers’ rights worldwide and in pursuit of decent work, let us condemn war and use every capacity at our disposal to prevent it.
Last year, I concluded my remarks with words from a Jewish writer and a verse from the Holy Qur’an. Today, I repeat them, because we need them even more than before:
“The opposite of love is not hatred, it is indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it is indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it is indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death.”
And the Holy Qur’an states: “And fear a trial which will not strike those who have wronged among you exclusively.”
We must unite. We must unite against war. We must unite against war. We must unite against military capitalism. We must unite against the global enemy of humanity—war.
Thank you.
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