People shop at a grocery store in Damascus, Syria, on March 17, 2021. Syrian pound took a free fall and has been largely depreciating against the U.S. dollar since the beginning of this year.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Hundreds of people participate in a rally against U.S. embargo in Havana, Cuba, Aug. 5, 2021.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Monday urged the United States and its western allies to end "economic terrorism" and commended China and Russia for upholding international law.

"My country also demands to put an end to the 'economic terrorism' imposed by the United States and its western allies against Iran, Venezuela, Belarus, Nicaragua, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and my country Syria in accordance with international law and UN resolutions," Mekdad spoke at the General Debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Syria also supports Russia and China's efforts to uphold international law, maintain security and stability, and promote development worldwide, in the face of the hegemonic policies and interference attempts of some countries, said the foreign minister of the war-torn country in Western Asia.

"Syria expresses its full support of, and solidarity with, the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of the illegal and irresponsible U.S. measures against it, especially following the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement," he said.

"In this regard, Syria condemns the economic embargo imposed on Cuba for decades now, and the American militarization of the situation in the Korean Peninsula," the minister added.

Mekdad stressed that "if COVID-19 would claim one life in the absence of so-called sanctions, it would claim so many more when they are in place."

"As the special rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights said, 'Sanctions are bringing suffering and death in countries like Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen,'" he said.

"And as noted by a group of independent UN human rights experts, 'Sanctions that were imposed in the name of delivering human rights are in fact killing people and depriving them of fundamental rights, including the rights to health, to food and to life itself,'" Mekdad noted.