Statement by H.E. Ambassador Reza Dehghani before the Special Conference for the International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures

Geneva - 4 December 2025

Statement

by

  H.E. Ambassador Reza Dehghani

 Deputy, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva

 before

The Special Conference for the International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures

 Geneva, 4 December 2025

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  بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

Mr. President,

We extend our appreciation to Venezuela for its leadership in advancing this important initiative and look forward to continued collaboration with all delegations to further strengthen this meaningful effort and achieve our shared goals.

We also express our gratitude to Special Rapporteur Professor Douhan for her professionalism, unwavering dedication, and thorough documentation of the humanitarian and developmental impacts of UCM throughout her mandate.

Iran underscores that today’s discussions will further illuminate the wide-ranging and detrimental impacts of UCMs—including those resulting from over-compliance—on the enjoyment of human rights and the pursuit of national development.

We anticipate that the forthcoming biennial panel discussions will provide greater visibility and a clearer understanding of their far-reaching impacts on the achievement of the developments goals.

The choice of 4 December—coinciding with the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development and designated by General Assembly Resolution 79/293 as the International Day against UCMs—is both deliberate and significant. It serves as a reminder that such unlawful measures constitute a grave violation of inalienable right to development and of the dignity of all peoples.

Iran reaffirms that UCMs are inherently inhumane. They are not only illegitimate due to their hostile and coercive nature, but also unlawful under international law. Sanctions function as instruments of collective punishment—silently destroying lives, weakening societies, and undermining fundamental rights to health, food, and development. What armed conflict devastates in days, sanctions inflict through years of systematic, silent, and often irreversible harm.

Several of these practices have been justified under the banner of “rules-based international order,” which in practice substitutes universally agreed principles with selective and subjective standards. The international community must remain alert to such reinterpretations. We urge all States to refrain from resorting to, imposing, implementing, complying with, or enforcing these unlawful measures in any form.

To conclude Mr. president, we underscore the importance of a robust, independent, and analytically rigorous mandate on unilateral coercive measures. The next mandate-holder should uphold the high level of expertise, methodological precision, and intellectual leadership demonstrated by Professor Alena Douhan, which remain vital for conducting evidence-based assessments of these measures and their humanitarian impacts.

Thank you.

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