According to United Nations Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy, the United States’ sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran are unreasonable, unjustified, and illegitimate and should be lifted immediately. Jazairy was appointed by the Human Rights Council in 2015 and has been a key figure in monitoring world policies.

Last week Jazairy expressed the concerns surrounding the sanctions in a conference stating that, “The re-imposition of sanctions against Iran after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, which had been unanimously adopted by the Security Council with the support of the U.S. itself, lays bare the illegitimacy of this action. This illegitimacy was confirmed by the opposition of all other permanent members of the Security Council and indeed of all international partners. The U.N. Charter calls for sanctions to be applied only by the U.N. Security Council precisely to ensure such wanton attacks on nations are avoided.”

He went on to say that, “International sanctions must have a lawful purpose, must be proportional, and must not harm the human rights of ordinary citizens, and none of these criteria is met in this case. These unjust and harmful sanctions are destroying the economy and currency of Iran, driving millions of people into poverty and making imported goods un-affordable.”

He addressed the medical needs and day to day crises that Iranian citizens will be facing, “The current system creates doubt and ambiguity which makes it all but impossible for Iran to import these urgently needed humanitarian goods. This ambiguity causes a ‘chilling effect’ which is likely to lead to silent deaths in hospitals as medicines run out, while the international media fail to notice. I appeal to the United States to demonstrate its commitment to allow agricultural commodities, food, medicine, and medical devices into Iran by taking real and concrete steps to ensure that banks, financial institutions, and companies can quickly and freely be assured that relevant imports and payments are permitted.”

He thanked the E.U. for the limited efforts given to combat the United States’ sanctions,“I am grateful for the efforts of the European Union in tackling this injustice, both through diplomatic efforts and through legislation to protect European companies from American sanctions. I sincerely hope that the international community can come together to see that the world does not become a battleground for generalized economic war.”