TEHRAN, Feb 15 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran slammed the U.S. decision, to divert billions of dollars in frozen Afghan assets to the families of 9/11 victims, as “shameful” and “anti-humanitarian.”
“This is not the first time the United States is plundering other countries’ assets, … and also not the first time it has demonstrated such arrogance,” Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman of the Iranian foreign ministry, told a weekly press conference.
The United States thinks it can seize other countries’ assets at will, by issuing unilateral verdicts both as the judge and the jury, Khatibzadeh said.
“Washington invaded Afghanistan, inflicted losses and costs worth billions of dollars on innocent and defenceless Afghan people, as well as, American taxpayers,” the Iranian spokesman noted.
Speaking of Iran’s measures to host Afghan refugees, Khatibzadeh said, his country has taken in 4.5 million Afghans.
Following the pullout of its troops from Afghanistan in Aug, 2021, the United States has frozen nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of assets of Afghanistan’s central bank, which worsened the economic crisis and poverty in the war-torn Asian country.
In a decree issued on Friday, U.S. President, Joe Biden, reportedly ordered the allocation of 3.5 billion dollars from the assets as damages to the victims of the 9/11 attacks, and diverted 3.5 billion more dollars to the Afghans as humanitarian aid, without the consent of the Taliban-run government.– NNN-IRNA
