Iran

Iran has reaffirmed its support for Cuba and called for the immediate lifting of the decades-long US embargo, condemning unilateral sanctions as unlawful measures that violate human rights, undermine national sovereignty and inflict suffering on ordinary people. In a statement delivered at the United Nations, Gholamhossein Darzi, Iran’s ambassador and chargé d’affaires to the world body, denounced Washington’s economic blockade of Cuba and called for accountability and reparations for the damage inflicted on the Cuban people.

“Over six decades of unilateral sanctions and blockade by the US against Cuba constitute flagrant coercion against a sovereign and independent state, inflicting immense hardship on its people, undermining their fundamental human rights, and obstructing their development,” Darzi said. He slammed Washington for intensifying the embargo under the pretext of promoting democracy, arguing that its devastating humanitarian consequences contradict its stated objectives.

“It is weaponizing democracy, not promoting it,” he said, stressing that no government has the right to dictate the political future of a sovereign nation. Darzi called for the immediate lifting of the embargo and full reparations from the United States for the damage caused, adding that those responsible for maintaining the policies must be held accountable. He also emphasized Iran’s opposition to unilateral sanctions against all sovereign and independent states, including Cuba, drawing on Iran’s own experience with US aggression and economic coercion.

“Such sanctions harm ordinary people, especially women, children, and older persons, undermining their health, safety, and well-being, and creating serious barriers to development, which is essential to the full enjoyment of human rights,” he said. Darzi slammed the United States for hypocrisy in invoking human rights to justify measures that undermine the rights of entire populations. He said US sanctions amount to collective punishment, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable.

“This is not defending human rights; it is blatant hypocrisy,” he said. Referring to the US president’s promise that “help is on its way” to the Iranian people, Darzi pointed to the US bombing of a primary school in Minab, which killed 168 children aged between seven and 12. The Iranian envoy urged the UN General Assembly to press Washington to implement the numerous resolutions adopted by the international community calling for an end to the embargo against Cuba.

“While the Charter calls for international cooperation in solving global problems and promoting friendly relations among nations, UCMs [Unilateral Coercive Measures] instead foster confrontation, deepen divisions, and undermine the foundations of peaceful coexistence,” Darzi said. He further described sanctions as a form of “economic terrorism, while blockades enforced by armed force constitute acts of aggression under international law.

“ “The time has come to end these unlawful and inhumane practices,” he said. “Their continuation is not only a failure of international responsibility but also an unmistakable manifestation of human and moral bankruptcy.”