Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the 79th United Nations General Assembly session in New York on Tuesday local time. He said that his country is ready to effectively engage with its neighbors and global powers to build a better world, but stressed that sanctions are not a proper response to Iran’s message.
“To build a better world, Iran is ready to engage in effective economic, social, political and security dealings with its neighbors and world powers from an equal position. The appropriate response to this message is not to impose more sanctions, but to fulfill previous commitments to lift sanctions to genuinely improve the economic conditions of the Iranian people and pave the way for further agreements”, Pezeshkian said.
He highlighted the impacts of the US-led sanctions on the Iranian people, including restrictions on medicine imports to the country and limits on the Islamic Republic’s trade with other nations, which he said are aimed at destroying Iran’s economy.
“Sanctions are a destructive and inhumane weapon, which are imposed with the aim of crippling a country's economy. Deprivation of vital medicines is one of the most painful repercussions of sanctions, putting the lives of thousands of innocent people at risk. The measures are not only a blatant violation of human rights but also a crime against humanity.”
The president further said that his message to all the governments, which have taken an “unconstructive strategy” towards Iran is that “we should take lessons from history”.
“We can move beyond these limitations and begin a new era. This new era starts with recognizing Iran's security concerns and jointly working on common issues.”
Pezeshkian also said in today’s integrated world, a country’s security and interests are not established at the cost of those of other nations.
“We need a new view to resolve global issues. Such a view should focus on opportunities instead of threats. Based on this interactive logic, new opportunities can be created for cooperation.”
Referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, President Pezeshkian said that the Islamic Republic and world powers, with an opportunity-based approach, reached the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Iran accepting the highest level of nuclear inspections in return for the removal of sanctions and the recognition of its rights.
The 2018 unilateral withdrawal of former US president Donald Trump from the JCPOA was indicative of a threat-based political and a power-based economic approach, Pezeshkian said, adding that Trump launched the maximum pressure campaign against the Iranian people at a time when Iran, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, was fully compliant with its commitments under the JCPOA.
“Iran is ready to interact with JCPOA members. If JCPOA commitments are lived up completely and with good will, dialog can be held on other issues as well.”
Elsewhere in his speech, the Iranian president touched upon the Israeli regime’s aggression on Gaza and Lebanon, calling on the international community to take tangible steps to stop the aggression before conflict spills over in the West Asia region and beyond.
“The international community must immediately stop the violence and establish a permanent ceasefire as soon as possible. The insane brutality of Israel in Lebanon must be halted before it sets the region and the world ablaze.”
“The Israeli regime has been defeated in Gaza and cannot rebuild its myth of invincibility through crime and brutality or by attempting to spread the war”, President Pezeshkian said, emphasizing that the aggression on Lebanon will not go unanswered, and that the responsibility for the consequences lies with the governments that stand against international efforts to end this “horrific tragedy” while still calling themselves defenders of human rights.
Pezeshkian said that the only way to end the “seventy-year nightmare of insecurity” in West Asia and the world is to restore the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
He proposed that all Palestinians, including expats and those currently living in their homeland determine their future in a nationwide referendum.
“We believe that such a mechanism leads to lasting peace, through which Muslims, Jews, and Christians can live together on a single land in peace, free from racism and apartheid.”