Iran urged the United Nations to take action to protect the stateless Rohingyas in a strongly-worded letter sent on Friday to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “We believe that ethnic and religious cleansing against Muslims under whatever pretext is unjustifiable and inexcusable under international law, and the United Nations must take urgent measures” to protect the Rohingyas by calling on the Burmese government to end its “crackdown,” Iran’s UN ambassador Mohammad Khazaee wrote. Around 800,000 Rohingya currently live in western Burma but are denied citizenship and face severely restrictions on movement, marriage and reproduction.