Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations has called for an end to the US unilateral sanctions which target ordinary Iranian people.

Amir Saeed Iravani made the remarks in a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi, where he complained about the destructive effects of the “unilateral and illegal” sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran.

The senior Iranian diplomat said US sanctions hamper the country’s efforts to address challenges related to the environment, health and welfare of the people.

He also noted that some US sanctions hinder Iran’s access to new technologies as well as investment in environmental projects, arguing that they are against international law and the UN Charter.

The US has created a sophisticated network of economic, financial and trade sanctions with the aim of isolating the Iranian nation, the diplomat said, adding that the sanctions also endangered environmental and health problems in the country.

Iravani further said cooperation in the field of environmental issues is a global responsibility, and that US measures are against the global sustainable development goals.

He also emphasized that the US must assume responsibility for its wrongdoing against the Iranian people, calling on Washington to lift all illegal and unilateral sanctions with environmental impacts.

The United States under former president Donald Trump reinstated crippling sanctions on Iran after unilaterally walking out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018, despite Iran’s full compliance with the terms of the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The sanctions, maintained by Trump’s successor Joe Biden, have restricted the financial channels necessary to pay for basic goods and medicine, undermining supply chains by limiting the number of suppliers willing to facilitate sales of humanitarian goods to the country.

Iran has repeatedly denounced the sanctions as an act of “economic war”, “economic terrorism”, and “medical terrorism.”