President, 

Please allow me to begin by congratulating the Republic of Korea on assuming the Council’s presidency for the month of June. The Chinese delegation will render its full support to you and your colleagues. I also wish to applaud Mozambique for conducting and completing its presidency with flying colors last month. I thank Acting Special Adviser Ms. Ana Peyro-Llopis for her briefing. I welcome the presence of the Iraqi representative.

Last September, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2697. The Resolution decides to extend the mandate of UNITAD until 17 September 2024 only. We welcome the positive progress achieved by the Team in the past six-plus months in drawdown and liquidation. We encourage UNITAD to continue to implement Council resolutions and complete its withdrawal in a timely and orderly manner in consultations with the Iraqi Government.

Handing over evidence to the Iraqi Government is a priority in the drawdown. We encourage the Team to transfer in a systematic way the full set of evidence to the host government without delay. It is imperative that the Team uphold transparency and non-discrimination and obtain prior consent from the Iraqi Government before sharing evidence and archives with a third state. Where evidence and archives are already shared with a third state, the Team shall inform the Iraqi Government promptly.

President,

while the mandate of the Team is drawing to a close, we cannot and will not relent our counter-terrorism efforts at the international level. Iraq remains at the forefront of the global fight against terrorism. The international community must continue to support capacity building of Iraqi government to prevail over terrorism and its efforts to maintain national security. 

I thank you, President.