Iran Press/America: Majid Takht-Ravanchi at the UN Security Council meeting on Conflict and Food Security, added: "To combat food insecurity in the world, it is necessary to lift the siege and sanctions and strengthen international cooperation."
He noted: "Current statistics on the number of people at risk of hunger and food insecurity in the world are alarming and it is necessary and urgent to face this challenge."
Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations added: "The fundamental principle must be to ensure the realization of the right to food for all, everywhere, at all times and under all conditions, whether war or peace, because freedom from hunger and malnutrition is an inalienable right."
Takht-Ravanchi stressed that the full realization of this right required a comprehensive approach and decisive action at the national and international levels, especially focusing on tackling all the root causes of food insecurity, as well as effective international cooperation and assistance.
In this regard, he stressed the need to strengthen the relevant activities of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, as well as the relevant specialized institutions and agencies of the United Nations.
Iran's ambassador to the United Nations noted: "According to international humanitarian law, ensuring civilian access to food in armed conflict and occupation is mandatory, It is also forbidden to starve civilians as a weapon of war."
"To address the acute food insecurity caused by the conflict, the Security Council must oblige all warring parties to adhere to these principles, and at the same time the Council itself must not, under any circumstances, boycott humanitarian trade, especially food and medicine," Takht- Ravanchi highlighted.
"There is nothing more urgent than the immediate lifting of the inhumane siege against the Yemeni people and the lifting of the illegal siege of Gaza," he said.
Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations also called sanctions as a major factor in food insecurity, referring to the role of US sanctions in preventing Iran from gaining access to food, medicine and medical equipment, and undermining Iran's ability to deal effectively with coronavirus.
"Countries should not use economic and political coercive tools to put pressure on other governments, and the immediate lifting of sanctions should be seen as a key step in tackling food insecurity," Takht-Ravanchi concluded.
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