Iran FM says sustainable development impossible without peace at UN meeting

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi addressed a high-level meeting of the Global Development Initiative on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday. He stated that the need to place development at the center of international cooperation has never been more urgent.

Araghchi noted that developing countries continue to face persistent poverty and hunger, widening inequalities, rising debt burdens, gaps in financing and technology, and growing environmental challenges. He said these pressures have been further intensified by conflicts, protectionist policies, unilateral coercive measures, acts of aggression, and the use of force, which undermine development prospects and reverse hard-won development gains. He emphasized that development cannot thrive in an environment shaped by war, coercion, and unilateralism, and that developing countries need financial resources, technology, knowledge, and cooperation, not more barriers.

The Iranian foreign minister criticized the continued use of unilateral coercive measures as a tool of political pressure against developing countries. He said Iran has faced such measures for decades, and they have intensified over recent years and months. According to Araghchi, US sanctions restricting trade, financial resources, medicine, technology, education, and scientific cooperation directly affect the daily lives of the Iranian people. He described the impact of these measures on ordinary people as economic terrorism and called on the United Nations to stand against such coercive measures and demand their complete and unconditional lifting.

Araghchi also condemned the ongoing US-Israeli aggression against Iran as a clear violation of international law and the UN Charter. He said the attacks have killed thousands, including women and children, and destroyed civilian and vital infrastructure, causing severe economic, social, and environmental damage. He referred to several sites hit during the attacks, including a primary school in the southern city of Minab where 168 students were killed, the Pasteur Institute, and a sports complex in Lamerd, in Fars province. He said places representing education, health, and hope have been turned into scenes of blood, death, and destruction.

According to Mehr News, Araghchi's remarks underscore Iran's position on the need for peace and security as prerequisites for sustainable development, and its opposition to unilateral coercive measures and military aggression.