“The US’ approach to sanctions betrays a pathological and reckless addiction—a condition that renders no bounds or boundary to what the US may or may not do. And this addictive behavior affects friends and foes alike, unless collectively pushed back. #EconomicTerrorism,” Zarif tweeted late on Sunday.
Zarif made the remarks two days after Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations censured the United States’ sanctions against the country, saying the measures were negatively affecting the daily lives of millions of ordinary Iranians.
Majid Takht-Ravanchi, speaking at a United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York on Friday, said the sanctions “are neither short of war nor better than or an alternative to war,” and that they are actually tantamount to war “but by other means and names”.
In May 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the JCPOA after the US withdrawal, but the three EU parties to the deal (France, Britain, and Germany) have failed to ensure Iran’s economic interests.
The EU’s inaction forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments to the nuclear deal, including a rise in the stockpile of enriched uranium.
Iran maintains that the new measures are not designed to harm the JCPOA but to save the accord by creating a balance in the commitments.