Araqchi made the remarks in an address to a high-level meeting of the Global Development Initiative on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The meeting was attended by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and senior officials from various countries, particularly developing nations.

Emphasizing the need to place development at the center of international cooperation, Araqchi said the Global Development Initiative, launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2021, has over the past five years promoted cooperation in poverty reduction, food security, development financing, green development, industrialization and the digital economy.

He also highlighted the initiative’s role in strengthening South-South cooperation, saying it can mobilize the knowledge, technology and capacities of Global South countries, turn solidarity for development into concrete action and strengthen the voice of developing countries in global development governance.

Araqchi pointed to the challenges facing developing countries, saying many continue to grapple with poverty, widening inequalities, growing debt burdens, financial and technological gaps, and mounting environmental challenges.

“These pressures have been intensified by war, unilateral coercive measures imposed by Western countries, acts of aggression and resort to force,” he said, warning that such pressures undermine development prospects and threaten hard-won development gains.

The foreign minister said the fifth anniversary of the Global Development Initiative provides an opportunity to review the past five years and chart the way forward, stressing that the initiative is “more necessary today than ever” as developing countries need financial resources, technology, knowledge and cooperation.

Referring to the continued imposition of unilateral coercive measures against developing countries, Araqchi said Iran has faced such pressures for decades and that they have intensified in recent years and months.

He stressed, however, that “these challenges have in no way weakened our determination to advance comprehensive economic development.”

Araqchi described US sanctions as “economic terrorism,” calling on the United Nations to oppose such coercive measures and demand their complete and unconditional removal.

He also referred to the ongoing military aggression by the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran, saying it has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, including women and children, destroyed civilian and vital infrastructure, and caused severe economic, social and environmental damage.

“The Iranian nation resolutely defended its independence and national sovereignty,” Araqchi said, adding that the international community also has a responsibility to condemn violations of international law and crimes committed in the conflict.

Referring to the US attack on an elementary school in Iran’s Minab, the Pasteur Institute of Iran and the Lamerd sports complex, Araqchi said, “A school, a medical institute and a sports complex — places for education, health and hope — were turned into scenes of death and destruction.”

He said these incidents reveal “the inhumane nature of the aggression and the aggressors,” stressing that such actions “must never be normalized or whitewashed.”

Araqchi reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to the UN Charter, sovereign equality, the right to development and genuine multilateralism, stressing that “development must never be held hostage to coercion, discrimination, political agendas or unilateralism.”

He also expressed Iran’s readiness to cooperate with China, members of the Global Development Initiative and all partners to strengthen the UN’s development pillar, expand South-South cooperation, consolidate genuine multilateralism and advance the goals and principles of the UN Charter.