TEHRAN: Iran has strongly condemned the United States for imposing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories.
In a post on X on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei slammed Washington, declaring, “Truth cannot be suppressed by sanctions.” He said Albanese was being “bullied and sanctioned for telling the truth & for standing up against genocide, occupation and apartheid.”
Baqaei also pointed out the glaring double standards of the US, noting, “Meanwhile, Netanyahu, a court-certified war criminal, gets a red carpet in D.C. Your bare hypocrisy is on full display and the world is watching.”
The US State Department announced this week that it was sanctioning Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, in its latest move to target critics of Israel amid its 21-month war on Gaza. This followed earlier failed attempts by Washington to pressure the UN into removing her from her role.
Albanese has been outspoken about what she calls Israel’s “genocide” against Palestinians. Speaking to Al Jazeera on Thursday, she vowed not to be silenced by US sanctions, stressing that these measures would not derail her “quest for (the) respect of justice and international law.”
She likened Washington’s approach to “Mafia intimidation techniques,” adding, “Sanctions will only work if people are scared and stop engaging.”
Just last week, Albanese released a report identifying corporations complicit in aiding Israel’s displacement of Palestinians and what she described as a genocidal war on Gaza, actions she said violate international law.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military offensive has devastated Gaza, leaving much of the territory in ruins and killing over 57,575 Palestinians since the conflict escalated nearly two years ago.
