Unilateral sanctions impede global efforts to protect environment: Iranian FM

Tehran: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that unilateral sanctions imposed by some developed countries on other states have a negative impact on the global efforts to protect the environment.

Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a message to Iran’s first national conference on diplomacy and cross-border environmental challenges held in Tehran, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a report by IRNA.

He claimed that these countries, which have the greatest share of the world’s military interventions and environmental pollution, have turned a blind eye to their historical responsibilities in this regard, in violation of their international commitments and obligations.

The Iranian foreign minister stressed that the “vicious triangle” of military intervention, war, and terrorism, has led to large-scale destruction of the environment and infrastructure in addition to all of its other harmful effects.

Foreign interventions, the rise of terrorism, and insecurity in some West Asian countries, according to Amir-Abdollahian, have exhausted all of their “limited capacities” and prevented environmental concerns from receiving adequate attention.

He claimed that the wars and crises in West Asia over the past decades have either weakened or destroyed the infrastructure that was in place for cooperation in a variety of sectors, including environmental protection.

In such circumstances, sustainable management of the environment is faced with serious obstacles, the Iranian diplomat stressed.