WAVE: World Against Violence & Extremism


During the September 2013 United Nations General Assembly, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani proposed that the General Assembly take steps against “violence and extremism” by creating a United Nations initiative he called “WAVE: World Against Violence and Extremism.” Iran continues to seek additional UN action on this front, most recently convening informal consultations on its draft resolution entitled “A World against Violence and Violent Extremism” in November 2017. That same month, Iran announced it was committed to keeping Lebanese terror group Hezbollah armed and the deputy head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned Europe that it would increase the range of its missiles to above 2,000 kilometers if it threatened Tehran.

On December 18, 2013, UN General Assembly adopted the Iranian-authored draft resolution, “A World against Violence and Violent Extremism.” The resolution encourages  The 11 co-sponsors of the resolution included notorious human rights abusers such as Syria, Cuba and Venezuela. On December 20, 2015, the resolution was again adopted by the UN amid criticism from Israel, the United States and Canada aimed at Tehran’s own record of complying with its international obligations, including for women, ethnic minorities and all religious communities.

Given the Iranian regime’s long-time sponsorship of terrorism worldwide, egregious human rights record and hate speech against the U.S. and the West, the ideals espoused under WAVE in no way comport with the record of Rouhani's government. Rather, WAVE is a rhetorical ploy to mask the Iranian regime's 38-year record of violence and extremism and is an affront to the United Nations and its principles.

Below are comprehensive research reports that detail Iran’s abhorrent track record and further highlight the hypocrisy of an Iran-sponsored resolution for “peace” at the United Nations.