Dr Mahathir blasts use of economic sanctions as illegal

BANGKOK: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today criticised an unnamed country for unilaterally imposing sanctions on another nation he did not name, saying that the move is against the law.

He said that the use of sanctions as a political weapon is counterproductive, and not only hurts the targeted country, but other nations which trade with it, Bernama reported.

“When you apply sanctions, it is against the law. There is no provision in UN (United Nations) that when a country is dissatisfied with another country, it can apply sanctions on that country, as well as other countries that trade with the country being sanctioned,” he told the Malaysian media on the sidelines of the 35th Asean Summit here, today.

Dr Mahathir said that although the issue of sanctions was not discussed at the summit, many of the countries represented at the talks are being affected by tariffs and embargoes.

“Malaysia is now being sanctioned, because we can’t trade with a very big trading (partner) of ours, Iran. Other countries also receive the same treatment.

“So under what law (are sanctions allowed)? They talk so much about the rule of law; they talk so much about rule-based trade, but the very people that talk about this or invented this idea are the same people not adhering to their own principles,” he said.

According to Bernama, the United States has slapped economic and trade sanctions on Iran over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.

Earlier this week, Dr Mahathir revealed that Malaysia had been “pressured by certain quarters” to close the bank accounts of Iranian individuals and companies in Malaysia, believed to be due to the US sanctions.

The Prime Minister also said that the ongoing US-China trade war was discussed at the summits today, with leaders expressing concerns over the ongoing spat, which shows no sign of ending.

“They all feel that this is disrupting the growth of their trade and economies.

“They would like to have a peaceful world, where they can trade with other countries,” he said, adding that should US President Donald Trump be re-elected next year, the trade war could drag on for another five years.

Earlier today, Dr Mahathir participated in the 22nd Asean-China Summit; the 16th Asean-India Summit; and 10th Asean-United Nations (UN) Summit.