Examining the Legitimacy of Unilateral US Sanctions in the Post-JPCA Era from the Perspective of International Law

Sanctions are one of the international coercive tools for forcing governments to change their behavior. In fact, this tool is based on the denial of the principle of equality of states, and is a tool that one or more countries apply against a country and ask it to make fundamental changes in its structures, norms and behaviors. Since its inception, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been subject to unilateral sanctions by the United States and its Western allies, and today it is subjected to the harshest sanctions. These economic sanctions have many adverse effects on citizens by affecting various aspects of human rights. These kinds of sanctions violate the principle of peaceful coexistence in international relations, which requires respect for the political principles of international law, namely equality of rights, non-interference, cooperation and friendship, respect for the independence and territorial integrity of states among members of the international community. Undoubtedly, the US unilateral sanctions are contrary to the guarantee of world peace and security, the solidarity of nations, the recognition of the right to self-determination and the non-use of force in international relations in the light of the UN Charter. In this study, using the analytical-descriptive method, it is explained that the unilateral economic sanctions of the United States and even the sanctions imposed within the framework of the Security Council, have violated various aspects of the rights contained in international human rights documents - including the right to life – and it has greatly affected the level of education, welfare and health in areas such as the right to work, food, desirable living standards, development, self-determination, and so on.