“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, addressing the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly on Friday.

Dehqani underlined that imposing economic sanctions on other states 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.

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

Dehqani renewed Iran’s strong opposition to the adoption of such “outdated and ineffective” approaches which, he said, are against the freedom of nations and interaction among countries.

Washington and its western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

NJF/NJF