Director General of Sustainable Development office of Iran's Foreign Ministry Ali-Mohammad Mousavi made the remarks at the High-Ranking Political Forum on the UN Sustainable Development on Thursday.
Describing SDS as one of the 'biggest' environmental challenges facing Iran and West Asia, the envoy elaborated on the problems the phenomenon has posed to everyday life in the region.
Over the past years, such problems as drought and unsustainable management of water and land as well as political instability in Iraq and Syria have complicated the SDS problem in the region, the Iranian official regretted.
In the past three years, the UN General Assembly has ratified three resolutions on combating SDS with the aim of formuating global solution for the problem, he noted.
Calling on the UN to provide the developing countries with financial and technical support and create capacities for implementation of their national prioritized projects of sustainable development, Mousavi said unilateral sanctions serve as a serious obstacle on the way of countries' attempts to attain sustainable development.
The panels of the meeting were held in New York over the last few days, attended by high representatives of more than 80 UN member countries.
