TEHRAN - In its annual report on human rights, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has detailed the U.S. government's rights abuses, including its use of "economic terrorism," labelling the U.S. the "biggest violator of human rights".

In a statement issued on the occasion of the American Human Rights Review and Exposure Week (June 27–July 3), Iran's Foreign Ministry criticized the United States' political strategy and application of unfair standards toward human rights.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes that U.S. unilateralism and imposition of unilateral economic sanctions with the aim of forcing governments to change their policies is a gross and systematic violation of human rights," the ministry stated. 

“Iran considers the U.S. use of economic means to pressure politically independent countries as a clear example of human rights violations and the use of economic terrorism to achieve political goals, and believes that this has exposed known norms and frameworks of human rights to complex challenges,” it added.

According to the ministry, the Islamic Republic is one of the nations most seriously harmed by the United States' instrumental use of human rights.

“The imposition of unilaterally coercive sanctions by the United States has become a tool for violating the natural and legal rights of the Iranian people, including the right to life, the right to health, the right to adequate living standards, the right to education and access to knowledge and technology, and the right to development in addition to the gross violation of the rights of women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities,” the ministry continued. 

The ministry discussed some of the effects of the sanctions, stating that they had jeopardized food security, resulted in a lack of cooperation from firms that supply Iran with medical and health equipment, and interfered with the acquisition of medications for rare and serious illnesses.

It asserted that as a result of the sanctions, Iranian academics and medical professionals were unable to access the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) and PubMed servers' medical information, particularly at the height of the coronavirus outbreak.

“Sanctions on the aviation industry and aircraft parts have seriously endangered the safety of Iranian passenger planes, while the lack of access to the international financial system and refusal of foreign companies to accept foreign exchange guarantees issued by Iranian banks have put additional economic pressure on bread-earning Iranian women and led to a decline in purchasing power of the elderly and problems for people with physical and mental disabilities in accessing medicines and medical equipment, adequate care and rehabilitation,” it added.

However, the ministry noted that Iran is not the only country to have been harmed by the United States' hypocrisy and systemic breaches of human rights.

“While the U.S. claims to be an advocate of human rights, there is no meaningful monitoring of the violations of the rights of minorities such as Muslims and people of color within the United States where hate-mongering is widely pursued by officials and police forces,” the report underlined. 

“The U.S. is the biggest supporter of the Israeli occupation regime, which, through its material and non-material support of the regime, provides the basis for the continuation of human rights violations in the occupied territories,” the Foreign Ministry explained. 

It also added, “The oppressed and defenseless people of Yemen are targeted daily by American weapons, which are sold to the aggressor and warring countries for financial and commercial purposes, while any end to the crisis in the country is opposed.”

The United States has also physically targeted the greatest heroes of the struggle against terrorism, most notably Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the U.S. government in 2020, according to the ministry.

“As highlighted by the UN Human Rights Council's thematic rapporteurs, the assassination of General Soleimani is an arbitrary violation of the right to life and contrary to the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” the report concluded.