بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم Statement By Ambassador Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran To the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva Before The Human Rights Council  51th Session Item 3 ID with the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights A/HRC/51/33 Geneva, 14 September 2022   Mr. President.   We appreciate the Special Rapporteur’s well-researched and alarming report (Secondary sanctions, civil and criminal penalties for circumvention of sanctions regimes and over-compliance with sanctions -A/HRC/51/33) and fully support her human mandate.  Mr. President.   Unilateral sanctions constitute crime against humanity due to their deliberate and indiscriminate harmful impacts on the innocent people by subjecting them to severe economic hardship amounting to starvation. It is a high time that the international community recognizing the extreme cruelty and illegality of UCMs and their unlawful extraterritorial application. Extraterritorial sanctions disregard generally accepted rules of international law governing the jurisdiction of States under international law and consequently are unlawful. Extraterritorial application of unilateral coercive measures resulted to deteriorating living standards, poverty and inequalities, high inflation, widespread unemployment in a number of affected UN member States. In many cases, it has disrupted the public safety, public order and public health and it has literally caused flagrant breach of fundamental rights of people in a number of affected States.   Mr. President,         The necessity of developing a legal doctrine with regards to the unilateral coercive measures in order to address the illegality and illegitimacy of UCMs in international legal literature is now revealed more than ever.           We strongly believe that the most important issue that must be addressed in every future endeavors by the esteemed Special Rapporteur is the issue of “responsibility” and “accountability” of those States that apply UCMs and those who fully comply with “secondary sanctions”, either willfully or reluctantly. It is high time that the United States, as the main culprit, and those European States that have long enforced the US unlawful sanctions against the targeted countries were held to account.   Mr. President, We concur with Madam Special Rapporteur that a coherent approach among all key factors is needed to comprehensively address different aspects of UCMs and their impacts, including the illegality of extraterritorial application of domestic legislations as well as their dire human rights and humanitarian implications.  I thank you, Mr. President.