The Iranian envoy to the United Nations (UN) has lambasted the so-called US maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic as an “example of state terrorism” aimed at creating suffering and social unrest in the country.
Majid Takht-Ravanchi made the remark at a meeting of the UN General Assembly's sixth committee on counter-terrorism on Thursday evening.
“The policy of maximum pressure by the US on Iran is designed to deliberately and indiscriminately target innocent civilians with the aim of creating suffering and hardship, as well as stoking social unrest in accordance with the flawed policy of regime change,” Takht-Ravanchi said.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns terrorism in all its forms, including state terrorism and economic and medical terrorism, which are carried out through unilateral coercive measures," he added.
Earlier in the day, the US Treasury Department defied Europe’s humanitarian objections and targeted Iran’s financial sector by imposing sanctions on 18 Iranian banks with the aim of cutting off the Islamic Republic from the world's financial system.
Despite claims made by the US Treasury that the sanctions will not apply to transactions for the provision of agricultural commodities, food, medicine or medical devices to Iran, European diplomats have asserted that US sanctions will have dire humanitarian consequences.
akht-Ravanchi went on to say that terrorizing nations has long been a major global challenge for the international community, as it kills countless innocent people and at the same time leads to devastating consequences for the stability and security of nations.
Underlining that the coronavirus pandemic has changed the health condition of many communities, the Iranian diplomat said the imposition of US laws and regulations with an extraterritorial impact on my country and other countries is, by definition, tantamount to terrorism, which has severely exacerbated general health conditions during the epidemic.
“Coercive measures are a manifestation of structural violence that violates human rights, the right to peace, the right to development, the right to health and, above all, the right to life,” Takht-Ravanchi noted.
The new sanctions come in blatant defiance of growing international calls for Washington to ease its Iran sanctions, which have severely prevented the country’s access to lifesaving medical items as the world is grappling to contain the deadly virus.