Iran urges UN members to condemn US sanctions on Zarif as breach of international law

The international community should condemn the US for imposing sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif because the action is in violation of international law, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi said in a letter sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, Trend reports citing Sputnik.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran deems such illegal action a flagrant infringement of the fundamental principles of diplomatic law, in particular the principle of inviolability and immunity of high-ranking foreign officials, including immunity of incumbent ministers of foreign affairs, as a universally accepted norm and rule of customary international law," Ravanchi said.

"It is imperative for the international community to condemn the United States’ unlawful behaviour in the interest of promoting multilateralism."

Last month, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Zarif as part of its maximum pressure policy on Iran that also targets officials associated with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The escalation of tensions between the two countries started in 2018, when Washington unilaterally left the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and reinstated harsh economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Exactly a year later, Iran announced that it would suspend some of its obligations under the JCPOA.