WANA (Sep 16) – In a television interview in Islamabad, Hina Rabbani Khar, Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Pakistani Parliament, strongly criticized the unilateral Western sanctions imposed on Iran, stating that Islamabad is not obligated to comply with them.

 

Rabbani Khar accused the West of seeking to maintain the dollar’s dominance and labelled these sanctions as a crime. She emphasized that the West applies the sanctions unilaterally, using political and economic pressure to coerce other countries into compliance.

 

The chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Pakistani Parliament pointed out that the sanctions against Iran are not mandated by the United Nations or other multilateral bodies but are instead unilateral and economically driven, exacerbating issues like poverty in affected countries.

 

She asserted that Pakistan is not required to adhere to these unilateral sanctions and criticized the use of political and economic tools by major powers to impose their will. According to Rabbani Khar, such economic sanctions directly impact the people, especially low-income people, and she deemed these actions criminal.

 

Despite extensive unilateral sanctions against Tehran, the U.S. has also used its veto power in the UN Security Council to enforce them. After the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, UN sanctions against Tehran were lifted in January 2016. However, former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions. President Joe Biden’s successor has continued the maximum pressure strategy against Iran.