Tehran, IRNA - The Iranian Foreign Ministry has criticized the United States' long history of human rights violations on the 36th anniversary of the downing of an Iranian passenger plane by a US Navy guided-missile cruiser in the Persian Gulf, which killed all 290 people on board.

"On July 3, 1988, the US Navy ship Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, which was carrying 290 passengers and crew, including 46 non-Iranian passengers and 66 children under the age of 13. The United States not only failed to apologize to Iran, but also awarded the Vincennes' commander a medal," the ministry said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday.

Separately in a press release, the Foreign Ministry drew attention to the violations of human rights by the United States in various parts of the world, most specifically its policy of imposing sanctions on independent countries, as well as its unconditional support for the Israeli regime.

American officials, under the pretext of human rights, have placed comprehensive pressure on and sanctioned countries that are not politically willing to act within the framework of US interests and desires, it said.

These unilateral actions, which are contrary to international regulations and norms, as well as in violation of international human rights treaties and documents, demonstrate the widespread human rights violations by the US government, it added.

The ministry pointed out that the US use of economic sanctions as a tool of pressure on countries that are politically independent and opposed to US international practices has continued for decades and is a clear violation of human rights at various levels.

These sanctions have had a significant negative impact on the world's nations and deprived citizens in various countries of their natural and legal rights, it noted.

Furthermore, the ministry said that the human toll of the US's reckless wars, its support for the crimes of the Zionist regime, and backing of despotic governments in suppressing the rights of the people and violating the right of self-determination of the oppressed Palestinian nation have continued for decades.

Since the Israeli war on Gaza began on October 7, the United States, through the provision of various forms of support and the supply of deadly weapons, has been the main partner in the crimes of the Zionist regime, and has thwarted the efforts of the international community to establish a ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian territory, the statement said.

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