Iran press/Europe: In a letter to heads of international bodies missions based in Vienna, Kazem Gharibabadi warned that US measure in sanctioning Iran's Foreign Minister Mohmmad Javad Zarif is a clear threat to diplomacy and multilateralism.
According to Iran Press, the letter noted that sanctioning Foreign Minister Zarif is just another instance of the numerous unlawful actions by the US as part of its so-called ‘maximum pressure’ policy against Iran, including through instigating economic terrorism against the Iranian nation which has been exacerbated in past 15 months after the US’s unlawful unilateral withdrawal from JCPOA, in defiance and contempt for the unanimously adopted UNSC resolution 2231 endorsing the agreement.
“The underlying repercussions of sanctioning a foreign minister of a sovereign UN member State is a flagrant violation of fundamental norms and principles of international law including the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” Gharibabadi highlighted, adding, “It also contradicts the established principles and rules of diplomatic law and inter-State relations.”
On July 31, the US Treasury Department said that it was imposing sanctions on Zarif — whom it described as Iran’s “primary spokesperson around the world” — for acting on behalf of Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
The bans drew condemnations from Iranian statesmen and military officials. The European Union — which has been cooperating with Zarif in a successful diplomatic process on Iran’s nuclear program — also expressed regret over Washington’s bans. Zarif, himself, mocked the bans and said the US’s “reason for designating me is that I am Iran’s ‘primary spokesperson around the world’. Is the truth really that painful?” He reiterated that the sanctions “have no effect” on him or his family, as they “have no property or interests outside of Iran.”213/211/203
Read More:
Zarif: US is concerned over its diplomacy failure
First Vice President Jahangiri: Sanctioning Zarif very unusual and unorthodox
Sanctioning of Zarif is an unprecedented attack on diplomacy: Iran's envoy
