A senior diplomat has said the sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council should not be used as a "political tool" to punish nations.
Ambassador to the United Nations Hossein Dehqani said, “Sanctions should not aim to punish nations; rather, they should be defined clearly and within the framework of legal bases within a specified timeframe, and then the imposed sanctions must be lifted after the desired objectives are achieved,” IRNA quoted him as saying.
Dehqani made the remarks in his address to the meeting of the legal committee of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday on behalf of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM).
“Members of the Non-Aligned Movement regard the imposition of sanctions as the last option and consider them as a proper move only when international peace and security are at risk,” the diplomat added.
Tehran has described anti-Iran sanctions imposed by Washington and its allies over its peaceful nuclear program as illegal and baseless. Iranian officials have on many occasions said the "cruel" sanctions have caused the suffering of millions of Iranians.
Established in 1961 the Non-Aligned Movement is a group of nations which are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. As of 2012, the movement has 120 members and 17 observer countries. Iran is the current president of the organization.
