Iran condemns US decision to sanction ICC judges

by IANS |

Tehran, June 9 (IANS) Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, condemned the recent US decision to sanction International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, calling it a "new low" for US foreign policy.

Writing on the social media platform X, Baghaei was reacting to the US government's announcement on Thursday of sanctions against four ICC judges. The move came in retaliation for the tribunal's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past decision to open a case into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.

Baghaei stated that the US government's action to "sanction and harass ICC judges and personnel for holding up to their judicial mandate is a new low, even for a system that is badly addicted to advancing its foreign policy through coercion and intimidation."

He further asserted that the United States continued to abuse its power, linking it to Washington's vote on Wednesday against a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at stopping "genocide" in Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported.

Baghaei added that the sanctioning of the ICC judges made the United States the most "enduring and persistent accomplice" in "Israeli crimes in Gaza."

He urged the international community to oppose such "barbarism that is shaking the whole fabric of international law and unsettling the basic tenets of humanity."

According to a statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Washington sanctioned Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.