President Donald Trump’s snap-back sanctions against Iran are illegitimate, unjust and harmful, a United Nations expert said today. They are causing silent deaths in hospitals from lack of medicines.
He applauded European and international efforts to tackle “this injustice” and prevent the world from becoming “a battleground for generalized economic war.”
Idriss Jazairy, the UN human rights expert on “the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures” said Trump has violated criteria for sanctions set by the UN Charter.
“These unjust and harmful sanctions are destroying the economy and currency of Iran, driving millions of people into poverty and making imported goods unaffordable,” he charged.
The sanctions meet none of the necessary UN criteria, which require that they must have a lawful purpose, must be proportional, and must not harm the human rights of ordinary citizens, he said.
His combative statement does not have legal or punitive value but places a moral seal of UN human rights approval on critics of the very harsh sanctions being pursued vigorously by the Trump administration.
Trump ordered them after reneging on former President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran signed by six other major powers, including Russia and China.
All the other signatories sharply oppose Trump’s snap back of sanctions, but he is threatening severe penalties for countries, companies and individuals who might try to bust them.
His central goal is to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero starting in November and block US dollar transactions with it by anyone anywhere in the world. The revenue and trade losses would certainly cause severe hardship for ordinary people in Iran.
Jazairy said the sanctions are likely to lead to “silent deaths in hospitals as medicines run out”, which the international media could fail to notice. They create doubt and ambiguity that make it all but impossible for Iran to import urgently needed humanitarian goods.
“I appeal to the United States to demonstrate its commitment to allow agricultural commodities, food, medicine, and medical devices into Iran by taking real and concrete steps to ensure that banks, financial institutions and companies can quickly and freely be assured that relevant imports and payments are permitted,” he said.
“The re-imposition of sanctions against Iran after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, which had been unanimously adopted by the Security Council with the support of the US itself, lays bare the illegitimacy of this action.”
“This illegitimacy was confirmed by the opposition of all other permanent members of the Security Council and indeed of all international partners. The UN Charter calls for sanctions to be applied only by the UN Security Council precisely to ensure such wanton attacks on nations are avoided.”
Applauding international efforts to reject economic bullying, he expressed gratitude for “the efforts of the European Union in tackling this injustice, both through diplomatic efforts and through legislation to protect European companies from American sanctions”.