Why it matters:
The U.S. move comes after the failure of Israel’s 12-day military confrontation against Iran and Washington’s unsuccessful attempts to stir civil unrest inside the country, marking a shift toward intensified economic warfare against Tehran.
What he's saying:
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the latest U.S. action—raising coercive trade tariffs on countries lawfully trading with Iran—constitutes collective economic punishment of Iranian civilians and amounts to crimes against humanity. He said the measures violate the UN Charter, international law, and the basic principles governing sovereign and free international trade.
Baghaei said the Iranian nation has endured more than seven decades of U.S.-led economic warfare, carried out under different pretexts, reflecting a systematic hostility embedded in Washington’s political decision-making toward Iran’s sovereignty and independence.
Baghaei called on the United Nations and its key bodies, especially the Secretary-General, to fulfill their legal responsibilities to defend the rule of law and prevent unilateral coercive measures from undermining the international trading system.
Key points:
- The U.S. has imposed new punitive trade tariffs on Iran’s lawful trading partners.
- Iran says the measures violate international law and fundamental human rights.
- The move follows the failure of recent military and destabilization efforts against Iran.
- Iran is urging the UN to act to protect the integrity of global trade and international law.
Go deeper:
Baghaei said that despite sustained economic, political, and military pressure, the Iranian people will continue advancing based on their domestic capacities and long experience in confronting external coercion. He argued that Washington’s reliance on economic warfare reflects the collapse of its earlier strategies to weaken Iran through force or internal destabilization.
ahmad shirzadian
