Gholamreza Nouri made the remarks during a meeting with Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Qu Dongyu, held in Italy on the sidelines of the 54th session of the Committee on World Food Security.

The Iranian minister stressed that access to food is a fundamental human right and proposed that the FAO, in cooperation with other UN bodies, establish a special task force to address global food security challenges, particularly obstacles to food access and transportation.

Nouri said that despite decades of sanctions, as well as war, aggression and a blockade over the past year, Iran’s economic and social resilience has demonstrated the ability of its food supply system and agricultural production cycle to withstand crises. He also expressed Tehran’s readiness to expand technical and financial cooperation with the FAO and share Iran’s experience in maintaining food security under difficult conditions.

Nouri warned that US unilateral actions and warmongering have created serious obstacles to the global movement of food and affected countries’ access to food resources, while unusually high food prices have become a major global concern.

For his part, Qu welcomed closer cooperation with Iran, underscoring the importance of collaboration among member states to achieve sustainable food security and recognizing Iran as one of the FAO’s founding members.