Iran slams US, Israel’s ‘upside-down logic’ in sanctioning Gaza aid activists

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for International and Legal Affairs has condemned US sanctions targeting Gaza aid flotilla activists, saying Washington is falsely presenting its complicity in Israeli actions against Palestinians as “security.”

Taking to X on Wednesday, Kazem Gharibabadi reacted to US sanctions imposed on four activists involved in Gaza flotilla missions aimed at breaking Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza.

“The Israeli regime stops humanitarian vessels bound for Gaza; the United States sanctions people linked to the aid flotilla, and calls this complicity ‘security,’” Gharibabadi wrote.

The sanctions were announced on Tuesday after at least 430 activists were abducted during Israeli violent interceptions of aid ships heading towards Gaza.

The senior diplomat said Tel Aviv and the Trump administration were promoting an “upside-down logic” in which humanitarian assistance is criminalized while the blockade and starvation of civilians are justified as “defense” measures.

“In this upside-down logic, food and medicine become threats, humanitarian aid becomes a crime, and a siege that starves children is rebranded as ‘defense.’”

Gharibabadi stressed that international law clearly prohibits starving civilians.

“Starving civilians, obstructing humanitarian relief and collectively punishing a population are crimes, not security policies,” he added.

“This is not about security; it is about hiding the crime,” he said, arguing that the regime’s targeting of aid ships and Washington’s sanctions against activists reflected fear over growing international exposure of the regime’s war crimes in Gaza.

Activists abducted during Israeli attack on Gaza aid flotilla launch mass hunger strike

At least 87 activists, who were abducted by Israeli forces during a raid on an aid flotilla sailing toward Gaza, have gone on a hunger strike, organizers say.

Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, killing more than 72,800 people and displacing more than two million Palestinians across the besieged strip.

Though a ceasefire agreement has been in place since October 10, 2025, Israel has killed at least 871 Palestinians and injured 2,562 others since it came into effect.

Meanwhile, the regime’s blockade of the territory has caused severe shortages of food, drinking water, medicine and fuel.

Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, has been under an Israeli air, land and sea blockade since 2007.

With activists from more than 46 countries now detained by Israel, flotilla organizers say they fear the sanctions are being used to justify further crackdowns on civilian vessels.

The concerns come amid reports from rights groups that the abducted activists were “forcibly taken against their will to occupied Palestine, where they have been subjected to interrogations, death threats, sleep deprivation, and medical neglect.”

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