UN to Confront US over Claims Its Agents Spied on High-Level Video Calls
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The United Nations will approach the US government over a media report that its intelligence agents spied on video conferences held by top UN officials, a spokesman said.
"We are aware of the reports, and we intend to be in touch with the relevant authorities on this," UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters on Monday, adding that this meant the US administration.
Mr Haq told reporters the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations has become "well established international law, therefore member states are expected to act accordingly to protect the inviolability of diplomatic missions".
A report by German magazine Der Spiegel says the US National Security Agency (NSA) broke the encryption code to allow US intelligence to listen in to UN video conferences.
The measure also involves the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the report said, quoting NSA documents. The IAEA has played a key role monitoring Iran's nuclear program.
It is the latest in a series of revelations about US spying on embassies and UN agencies made since former US analyst Edward Snowden started revealing details of US intelligence tactics, AFP reported.
"Whenever we have received this information in the past we have taken it up with the relevant authorities," Mr Haq said.
Asked about the issue, the US State Department said "the US government will respond through diplomatic channels to our partners and allies around the world when they raise concerns".
Earlier reports in Der Spiegel and Britain's Guardian newspaper detailed alleged widespread NSA surveillance of EU offices, including diplomatic missions in Washington and at the UN headquarters in New York.
Revelations about NSA snooping made by Snowden have sparked outrage in Europe.
