Mousavi: Iran to use legitimate instruments to protect its citizens’ interests

Iran will use all the legal tools to support the rights of its citizens based on international regulations, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said, Trend reports citing Mehr News Agency.

Making remarks about the US reaction to Iran’s sanctions on the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and its CEO Mark Dubowitz for their role in heightening the impact of the US sanctions on Iranian nation, Mousavi said that measures of Dubowitz’s FDD and US Department of State are not new things.

"The consequences of enlisting legal and real people in sanctions list have been described fully in Iran’s legislative law and the Islamic Republic will use all and every legal means to support the rights of its citizens based on international regulations,” Mousavi added.

In a statement published on August 25, Iran’s Foreign Ministry referred to the impact of the US sanctions on ordinary Iranians including endangering the lives of many innocent people, Iran’s legitimate trade with the world and the impact of the US sanctions on Iran’s environment, adding that the sanctions are aimed at changing the Islamic Republic establishment.

The statement condemned the deliberate actions of the FDD and its CEO Mark Dubowitz including spreading lies, lobbyism, as well as propaganda against Iran.

The Foreign Ministry has announced the sanctions on FDD and its CEO based on a law titled "Countering America’s Human Rights Violation and Adventurous and Terrorist Actions” passed by the Iranian Parliament in 2017.

Accordingly, taking any actions by the judicial and security apparatuses against the FDD and their Iranian and non-Iranian accomplices will be considered legitimate as their actions are against Iran’s national security and the interests of Iranian people and government.

The US imposed sanctions on Iran in November 2018 and expanded the list of sanctions in several stages.