TEHRAN – Iran's permanent envoy to UN organizations in Vienna has cautioned that recent U.S. sanctions against Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif were a backward move for diplomacy.

In a letter to his international counterparts in Vienna, Kazem Gharibabadi cautioned on the adverse effects of the U.S. sanctions on Zarif and called on the international community to confront the unlawful act, IRNA reported.

Gharibabadi argued that the main reason for the sanctions is because of Zarif's high capability in representing Iranian people at the international level. 

He said that imposing sanctions against a foreign minister of a state-member of the United Nations was a flagrant violation of the principle of international law and damage to diplomacy and multilateralism.

Arguing that the sanctions against Foreign Minister Zarif are a grave backward move for diplomacy and a fatal blow to diplomatic procedures, Gharibabadi said that the U.S. measure is endangering interactions among states.

The Iranian diplomat added a restriction of movement imposed on Zarif by Washington during his recent visit to New York was a gross violation of Article 105 of the UN Charter, Convention 1945 and norms of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.

Resolution 73/212 of the General Assembly calls on the host country to avoid any restriction on diplomats that are resulted from bilateral relations, he said.

The sanctions against Iran's foreign minister are an offense against diplomats across the world, he said, adding that the U.S. imposed the restrictions on Zarif at a time that the world is in urgent need of diplomacy.

The Iranian representative called on the international community to strongly condemn the illegal move by the U.S. He said that affiliated organizations of the UN and the state-members should get united in defense of the basic principles of international law and against the prejudice.

SP/PA