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25 October 2013 - 16:31

Iran’s Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Gholam Hossein Dehqani has criticized the use of economic sanctions against developing countries for political gain.

“Iran firmly believes that the imposition of economic sanctions as a means to exert political and economic pressure on developing countries is a blatant violation of international law and in contradiction to the goals and principles of the UN Charter,” Dehqani said in an address to the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly on Friday.

Slapping economic sanctions runs counter to independent countries’ right to peace, development and security, and violates the right of nations to trade, free shipping and multilateral commercial system, said the envoy.

The Iranian diplomat emphasized that the freedom of countries to adopt commercial policies of their choice “should not be misused as a justification to exert economic pressure on other countries.”

Dehqani further dismissed the “smart sanctions” rhetoric, and said the destructive consequences of economic bans mainly target ordinary people.


“The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the imposition of economic sanctions as a tool to make threats and exert pressure to achieve political objectives will seriously undermine the legitimacy of the international system [which is] based on the United Nations Charter,” he stated.

Dehqani renewed Iran’s strong opposition to the adoption of such “outdated and ineffective” approaches which, he said, are against the freedom of nations and interaction among countries.
 

News ID 185485