MT A first salvo of sanctions reinstated by the United States against Iran came into effect on August 7, exerting economic pressure on Tehran after Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
“America has constantly zigzagged, no one can trust it,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters on August 8, on the public news channel IRINN, quoted by AFP. “Imagine negotiations now, how can we trust [the United States]?” He asked.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he was reluctantly forced to apply US sanctions against his big Iranian neighbor, saying that his country had itself suffered 12 years of international embargo.
“We do not support sanctions because they are a strategic mistake, but we are forced to respect them,” he said at his weekly press conference.
“In general, sanctions are unfair, that’s my position and I have stated it,” he said.
“We are committed to protecting our people and our interests,” he said.
“We are deeply disappointed by the decision of the United States to reinstate its national sanctions against Iran,” Russia’s diplomacy said in a statement, saying Moscow “will do everything in its power” to protect the deal and its economic ties. with Iran.
“These unilateral actions are illegal under international law and confirm that the policy of the US administration is prone to hegemony and arrogance, after losing credibility to the world by withdrawing from the nuclear agreement” said an official of the Foreign Ministry, quoted by the Sana agency.
In a statement to AFP, a spokeswoman said the Daimler expansion project, which included the manufacture and sale of Mercedes trucks through a partnership with local companies, was also suspended. .
The Iran sanctions have officially been cast. These are the most biting sanctions ever imposed, and in November they ratchet up to yet another level. Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States. I am asking for WORLD PEACE, nothing less!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2018
In a televised interview a few hours before the reinstatement of severe US sanctions against Iran on August 7, Hassan Rohani accused Washington of “wanting to launch a psychological war against the Iranian nation and provoke dissension [among the Iranians].” These sanctions were reinstated due to Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from Iran’s historic nuclear deal of 2015, signed by Tehran, Washington, Tehran, Moscow, Beijing, Paris, London and Berlin.
The day before, US President Donald Trump said he remained “open” to a new “more comprehensive” deal that would cover all of Tehran’s [evil] activities, including its ballistic program and its support for terrorism. ” “Either [Iran] is changing its threatening and destabilizing attitude, and it will be able to return to the bosom of the global economy, or it will continue on the road to economic isolation,” the US president had also hammered, maintaining a line uncompromising vis-à-vis Iran since his election.
The first wave of US anti-Iran sanctions, which took effect on Aug. 7, includes blockages on financial transactions and raw material imports, as well as punishing measures on purchases in the automotive and commercial aviation sectors.
It will be followed in November by measures affecting the oil and gas sectors as well as the Central Bank of Iran.
The reinstatement of economic sanctions was decided after Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. The latter aimed to guarantee the strictly peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program by subjecting it to surveillance by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In its latest report in May, the agency said that Iran continues to honor its commitments.
