Iran’s Senior Rights Official:

U.S. Atrocities Have Directly Targeted Civilians

Date: 14 May 2023 - 22:35

News ID: ۱۱۵۰۶۸

TEHRAN -- A senior Iranian rights official on Sunday drew attention to atrocities committed by the United States against nations, saying the American regime has directly targeted civilians.

Kazem Gharibabadi, secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, underlined the need to increase Iranian public awareness about U.S. crimes and take international measures in this regard.

“In the domestic arena, people should know what crimes the U.S. has committed against us. This is because the U.S. atrocities have directly targeted the people,” he said.

“The U.S. has committed two major crimes against the Iranian people in the fields of terrorism and sanctions. We have 17,000 victims of terror, among them those killed in the cowardly assassination of Qassem Soleimani and his companions.”

Iran regards itself a major victim of terrorism as it has lost over 17,000 people in acts of terror since the 1979 victory of the Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s legendary anti-terror commander General Soleimani was assassinated

in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020. He was highly revered across the Middle East because of his key role in fighting the Daesh terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
Gharibabadi said the international community should be encouraged to take a position on the U.S. violation of the nations’ rights, which are unprecedented throughout history.
Touching on sanctions, the official said the U.S. bans have affected the rights of all Iranian people and victimized the nation.
Jurists, he added, believe that unilateral sanctions are a crime against humanity.
Back in May 2018, the U.S. began to unilaterally impose the “toughest ever” sanctions against Iran after the former president left the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Although Trump failed to reach his professed goals with his “maximum pressure” campaign, the bans have badly hurt the Iranian population.
Preserved under the Joe Biden administration, the U.S. sanctions have restricted the financial channels necessary to pay for basic goods and medicine.