Speaking at the 2026 ECOSOC Finance for Development forum, held in New York on April 23, Saeed Iravani stressed that financing for development is directly tied to the credibility of multilateral institutions, noting that declining cooperation, unilateral measures, and the freezing of sovereign assets are constraining development in many countries.
What follows is the full text of his statement:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Mr. President, Distinguished Colleagues,
Financing for development is closely linked to the credibility and integrity of the multilateral system. Declining trust and cooperation, the weakening of multilateralism and the United Nations’ role, the growing reliance on unilateral measures, and the increasing politicization of financial flows and economic instruments undermine development. In addition, the freezing of sovereign assets, along with the economic consequences of aggression and armed conflict, particularly in developing countries, further constrains fiscal space, disrupts investment, and weakens sustainable development efforts.
The persistence of acts of aggression, particularly against developing countries, remains a major obstacle to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and mobilizing financing for development, with direct links to today’s economic, social, and environmental crises.
Mr. President,
For more than four decades, my country has been subjected to unilateral coercive measures, financial restrictions, and the freezing of assets belonging to its people-measures whose impact is borne directly by ordinary civilians.
In the case of the ongoing aggression against my country, which has occurred twice over the past nine months, we have endured repeated acts of imposed war that have taken the lives of thousands of our people, particularly children, women, and young boys and girls, each of whom had hopes and aspirations for the future.
It is therefore deeply regrettable that carefully proposed language reflecting the realities faced by countries under aggression, particularly their disproportionate impact on developing countries, was removed by the facilitators and replaced with formulations that are neither consensus-based nor neutral. Such an approach risks undermining the credibility, clarity, and integrity of our collective work.
In closing, it is imperative to reaffirm that development finance must remain development-oriented, predictable, and free from politicization, while fully respecting the sovereign right of countries to pursue their own development pathways. We call for strengthened international cooperation to ensure that financial systems are inclusive, transparent, and resilient, and to reinforce the central role of the United Nations.
I thank you.