The head of State Welfare Organization of Iran (SWO) has censured illegal sanctions imposed by the US and Western governments on the country’s community of persons with disabilities.

According to The Iran Project, Ali Mohammad Qaderi said “The global community and human rights forums must address these critical questions: Which human rights principles are consistent with and justify the sanctions imposed on the Iranian community of persons with disabilities?”

He was speaking at the the 17th session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP17) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York on Tuesday.

Qaderi said Iran will make every effort to promote services needed for the disabled in accordance with the convention’s framework as the Islamic Republic has prioritized the implementation of community-based rehabilitation programs at the national level.

Washington's sanctions against Iran have taken a new turn since May 2018 when the former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the 2015 nuclear deal and reinstated harsh economic bans on Tehran.

Qaderi said the Islamic Republic, with a commitment to further enhancing the empowerment, independence, and social integration of persons with disabilities, has embarked on comprehensive initiatives to ensure accessibility in both physical environments and cyberspace for the disabled.

“This is notwithstanding the fact that the cruel sanctions imposed by the United States and many Western countries on the Islamic Republic of Iran have significantly increased the prime costs of rehabilitation items and specialized services, and affected the economic capabilities of individuals receiving such services,” he said.

Qaderi asked the forum, “Don’t you think that creating barriers to the international communication of the Iranian community of persons with disabilities will ultimately deprive them of their equal rights to educational and rehabilitation facilities?”

Iranian authorities have on numerous occasions censured the decades-long unilateral US sanctions on the Islamic Republic as a crime against humanity since they severely undermine the basic rights of the entire nation.