Iran Hits Back at US for Issuing Sanctions against UN Investigator Albanese
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry lashed out at the US for issuing sanctions against Francesca Albanese, who serves as the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory.
“Truth cannot be suppressed by sanctions,” Spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmaeil Baqaei said in a post on his X account on Friday following the US State Department's decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, an Italian independent investigator tasked with probing human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories.
“Francesca Albanese is bullied and sanctioned for telling the truth & for standing up against genocide, occupation and apartheid,” he said.
“Meanwhile, Netanyahu, a court-certified war criminal, gets a red carpet in D.C.” the Iranian spokesman noted.
“Your bare hypocrisy is on full display and the world is watching,” Baqaei told the American officials.
The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it was issuing sanctions against Albanese, the latest effort by the United States to punish critics of Israel's 21-month war in Gaza.
The State Department's decision to impose sanctions on the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza follows an unsuccessful US pressure campaign to force the international body to remove her from her post.
Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, has been vocal about what she has described as the "genocide" by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Thursday, Albanese said she would not be cowed into silence by the US move against her.
Albanese stressed that the penalties imposed by the US administration would not stop her “quest for (the) respect of justice and international law”.
The special rapporteur said Washington’s tactics reminded her of “Mafia intimidation techniques” before suggesting that “sanctions will only work if people are scared and stop engaging”.
Last week, she released a report mapping the corporations aiding Israel in the displacement of Palestinians and its genocidal war on Gaza in breach of international law.
The Israeli regime’s campaign in Gaza has destroyed most of the territory and killed more than 57,575 Palestinians over the past 21 months.
