TEHRAN – An international group of several countries denounced the imposition of sanctions on Iran and called for an immediate end to them.

The National Coordinators of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations held a meeting in Tehran on Saturday. At the end of the meeting, they issued a joint political declaration in which they called for an end to sanctions against Iran. 

“We also reaffirm our strong rejection and condemnation of the imposition of illegal sanctions, unilateral coercive measures against the People and Government of Nicaragua, and aggressions that have a negative impact on the development and prosperity of the country. In this sense, we demand the immediate end of such sanctions,” they said in the declaration. 

 The group also voiced support for the Iranian people and government. “We express our unwavering support for and solidarity with the People and Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, subjected to unilateral coercive measures, including unilateral sanctions imposed by certain countries, which violate the Charter of the United Nations and the rules and principles of international law, while seriously threatening the full enjoyment of their human rights and the realization of their right to development,” they said, adding, “We further call for the ‘lifting of all such unilateral measures against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranian nationals and companies,’ as recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights in her report to the Human Rights Council on 17 August 2022 (A/HRC/51/33/Add.1), pursuant to her official country visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran from 07 through 18 May 2022.”

The group includes Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nicaragua, the State of Palestine, the Russian Federation, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. 

The representatives of these countries met at the vice-ministerial level in Tehran in order to discuss ways and means to advance our common endeavors aimed at preserving, promoting and defending the prevalence and validity of the Charter of the United Nations, both in its letter and spirit, and to further improve our coordination on issues of common concern and interest and on potential ways to move forward.

The group also expressed concern over the replacement of the tenets of the UN Charter with what came to be known as rules-based order. “We reiterate our serious concern at continued attempts aimed at replacing the tenets enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations – which have been agreed upon by the entire international community for conducting their international relations – with a so-called ‘rules-based order’, that remains unclear, that has not been discussed or accepted by the wide UN membership, and that has the potential, among others, to undermine the rule of law at the international level,” the group said. 

 The group said, “We concur that double-standards, coupled with selective approaches or accommodative interpretations of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, aimed at advancing political agendas of dubious nature, in clear contempt for international legality and in disregard for the common good or collective interests of the peoples of the United Nations, represent one of the major threats to the prevalence and validity of that universal and legally binding instrument that constitutes an exceptional achievement for humankind and a true act of faith on the best of humanity.”

At the end of their declaration, the members of the group vowed to defend the UN Charter. “We, at last, renew our firm determination to continue defending the Charter of the United Nations through concerted actions from the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations and to stand by one another in this noble endeavor. “