In a message on his Twitter account on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Zarif said, “US addiction to sanctions is out of control.”
He also decried the US Treasury Department’s move to impose sanctions on a number of Iranian banks, financial institutions and companies, saying, “Iranian private bank key to food/medicine import is designated because of alleged EIGHT degrees of separation with another arbitrary target. In comparison, all humans on planet are connected by SIX degrees of separation. You do the math.”
Zarif then pointed to the International Court of Justice’s warning to Washington to refrain from any action that might aggravate or extend the dispute with Iran, adding, “Latest US sanctions violate 2 ICJ orders: to not impede humanitarian trade & to not aggravate the dispute. Utter disregard for rule of law & human rights of an entire people.”
“US outlaw regime's hostility toward Iranians heightened by addiction to sanctions,” he deplored.
Back in May, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite objections from other signatories of the accord.
In August, Washington re-imposed the first round of anti-Iran sanctions it had lifted under the JCPOA. A second round, forthcoming on November 4, will be targeting Iran's energy sector and financial transactions.