TEHRAN - Gholamali Khoshroo, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, said on Tuesday the U.S. unilateralism is a “serious threat” to the world and suggested that a “swift” and “robust” reaction is needed by the international community to counter this policy.

Khoshroo made the remarks during a speech at the 6th Committee of the 73nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly on “The Rule of Law at the National and International Levels”.

Following is an excerpt of his speech published by ISNA:

Unilateralism, as a pressing challenge for the rule of law at the international level, has been crystalized either in the form of withdrawal from international treaties and protocols, withdrawing from a number of important agencies, waging trade wars against countries, imposition of extraterritorial illegal sanctions or any other wrongful act which put into question the foundations of international law and international legal order.

Today, I want to draw the attention of the Sixth Committee to a serious threat to the UN Charter and international relations, which needs the swift and robust reaction of the international community.

For the first time in the history of the UN, the United States – a permanent member of the Security Council with the veto power – is engaging in penalizing nations across the entire world; not for violating a Security Council resolution, rather, for abiding by it.

Let me repeat myself again. In total disregard to Article 25 of the UN Charter, the US is penalizing the Member States who implement and abide by a Security Council resolution. This is a new and at the same time, a dangerous phenomenon which endangers the essential foundation of rule of law at the international level.

On 8 May 2018 the current US administration withdrew from the JCPOA, the agreement that was the culmination of more than a decade of negotiations and diplomacy and is a part of Security Council resolution 2231. The Security Council resolution 2231 underlines “promoting and facilitating the development of normal economic and trade contacts and cooperation with Iran” and calls upon all Member States to support the implementation of the JCPOA, including to ensure Iran’s access in areas of trade, technology, finance and energy, and refrain from actions that undermine it.

The US, however, now is targeting the countries that continue their economic ties with Iran in accordance with their obligations under the Security Council resolution 2231.  What The US does by threatening revenge against countries is weaponizing its economy and currency thereby abusing the international financial system which drastically depends on the US dollar.  Needless to say, these acts run counter to well-established principles of international law, including equal sovereignty of States, independence and non-intervention in other States’ internal affairs.

It is our true belief that each and every member of the community of nations has a duty to stand up against the US wrongful act and contempt for the rule of law in international relations; in particular, by refusing to give effect to irresponsible acts. The international community must act in the face of this international intimidation and affront towards the international legal order.