A bipartisan letter from members of Congress objecting to Iran assuming the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament is being ignored by United Nations officials. The Washington Free Beacon
reports that a UN spokesperson told it: "the Conference on Disarmament, sets its own rules and procedures, and its presidency rotates every four weeks in alphabetical order in English. Asked if the U.N. would respond to Congress, the spokesperson said that "the Conference on Disarmament sets its own rules and procedures; it is not a U.N. body as such."" Another classic "who me?" response from the UN secretariat (who are handsomely paid on US $). Here's the actual relationship between the UN and the Conference on Disarmament. This is the UN
web page on the Conference on Disarmament. The Conference was established in 1979 as a result of the first Special Session on Disarmament of the UN General Assembly held in 1978. The current Director-General of the UN in Geneva is the Secretary-General of the Conference as well as the Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the Conference. The Conference reports to the General Assembly. The budget of the Conference is included in that of the United Nations. The staff members of UN Department for Disarmament Affairs service the meetings of the Conference. The meetings of the Conference are held at the United Nations building in Geneva, the Palais des Nations. Etc. And the UN Secretary-General still thinks he has no responsibility to call on UN member states to ensure that a state bent on acquiring nuclear weapons is not heading the body tasked with preventing their acquisition.