TEHRAN – Iranian officials on Wednesday unanimously denounced Washington’s fresh sanctions against Tehran.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a cabinet meeting that Iran is used to these kinds of “hostilities” and will give a necessary response to the new sanctions, official IRNA news agency reported.
“Iranians well know that they should resist and stand against their enemies,” he said. “Over the past 40 years (following the victory of the Islamic republic in 1979), the Iranians have faced numerous pressures, sanctions and accusations by the US politicians and their propaganda machine.”
“The Americans cannot tolerate an independent and influential country in this sensitive region,” he said.
On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives approved a bill that slaps tougher sanctions on Russia, Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Sanctions against Iran is mainly in response to Tehran’s growing missile program. The bill should be approved by the Senate and signed by the president in order to become legal.
Iranian officials have repeatedly said Iran maintains its right to respond to the United States if the latter does not comply with the nuclear deal.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday that the fresh sanctions by the United States will have adverse impacts on the “successful” implementation of the nuclear deal, official IRNA news agency reported.
Given the US commitments, “they should have implemented the nuclear deal (JCOPA) with goodwill and in constructive atmosphere, and they should have avoided the measures which might have (negative) impacts on the successful implementation of the deal,” Araqchi, also senior Iranian nuclear negotiator, was quoted as saying.
However, the recent move of the US congress to impose sanctions on Iran runs counter to the US commitments, Araqchi told reporters.
“Iran will definitely respond to the US hostile move,” he noted.
On Friday, Araqchi told media in Vienna that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal should be fully implemented in all aspects, and that Tehran is not satisfied with the United States because of the sanctions imposed on Iran over its ballistic missile program.
During his presidential campaign, US President Donald Trump quarreled with the Iranian nuclear deal, achieved during the administration of his predecessor, Barack Obama. The Trump administration is now reconsidering US policy on Iran.
Iran and six world powers, namely Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in July 2015, which put Tehran on the path of sanctions relief but with more strict limits on its nuclear program.
Besides, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said Wednesday that the US Congress bill against Iran will jeopardize the implementation of the JCPOA.
The US fresh sanctions against Iran is “an illegal and insulting act,” Qasemi said, adding that the United States should not overlook its obligation vis-a-vis the nuclear deal.
Moreover, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri condemned the US congressional decisions and warned Washington to be more cautious about its approaches toward the Islamic Republic, Tasnim news agency reported.
Jazayeri said that Iranian armed forces, heedless of US pressures, “will push their ways to reach the peaks of progress and will make it (the United States) regret its mischievous acts.”
