The United States has unveiled its nature as an "enemy to international law," according to an Iranian scholar, who accused the U.S. of undermining the rules-based international order and devastating the basic human rights of civilians in Iran through its unilateral sanctions and military actions.
In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Heybatollah Nazhandimanesh, an associate professor at the Allameh Tabataba'i University in Tehran, criticized the hegemonic U.S. sanctions as destructive for international law.
Iran was hit by a wave of protests which started in late December as initially peaceful before escalating into violence, resulting in casualties and damage to public property and buildings. Iranian authorities have attributed the unrest to interference by the United States and Israel.
Tensions between Iran and the United States had already worsened after a series of strikes last June, when U.S. forces bombed Iran's nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan. The U.S. also recently moved impose sanctions on numerous more entities and individuals allegedly linked to Iran.
Given the recent U.S. attacks on Venezuela and the Trump administration's stated aims to take control of Greenland as well as its intervention on Iran, Nazhandimanesh said the U.S. is trying to impose its will on other nations, which goes against international law and the principles set out in the United Nations Charter.
"International law is agreed rules by nations, by states. And the United States is trying to dictate, to impose the unilateral will of one state against another state or other nations," he said.
"International law is protecting some common values for all nations: international peace and security; human rights; self-determination; and justice. In addition to attacking states or attacking international principles, and particularly those embodied in the UN Charter, the U.S. is attacking international judicial institutions," he continued.
Nazhandimanesh also believes the U.S. sanctions not only violate international law, but also endanger the lives of ordinary people living in Iran, infringing on their right to life.
"About the unilateral sanctions by the U.S. against the Iranian people, first, they are against international law. They are a violation of public international law, because one state is imposing its will against another nation, because the imposing state is going to force the targeted nation to change its policies and attitudes and do what the U.S. is looking for," he said.
"Another aspect is international human rights law. These sanctions affect the Iranian people and different basic rights of the Iranian people, including the right to life and the right to medicine. We have lots of people who have no access to medicine, and because of this, their lives are in danger. That is a gross violation of human rights law," he said.
Nazhandimanesh was also clear in his view that the U.S. has proven it is not interested in following the global rules-based order.
"Beyond the sanctions against the Iranian people are the sanctions against international criminal law. In this way, the U.S., in my opinion, clearly shows its nature as an enemy to international law," he said.
US show its nature as "enemy to international law": Iranian expert
