In an unprecedented move, three prominent Iranian economists — Saeed Leylaz, Mousa Ghaninejad and Mohammad Mehdi Behkish — have advocated the launch of a campaign under the banner of a "civil movement against sanctions." Ghaninejad, in a July 13 interview, told Tejarat-e Farda, “Both from a perspective of international law and human rights, US unilateral sanctions [against Iran] have no legal ground.”
Ghaninejad argues that by imposing sanctions on Iran, the United States does not serve the cause of peace because it forbids trade, while trade in itself is a major element in establishing peace between nations. “The more economic interdependence between nations the more peaceful international relations become. In fact, the main reason for the formation of many international institutions, specifically the United Nations and the organizations under its aegis, is to develop economic ties between countries in order to make the relations between them more peaceful.”