America’s maximum pressure campaign has failed: Iran

Iran has downplayed the latest US sanctions against the country’s Central Bank, saying that Washington’s campaign of pressure against Tehran has already failed.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Saturday that the recent sanctions are nothing new and are the ones imposed previously in a different form.

“Americans have to admit that the sanction policy is a defeated policy, and the excessive use of this tool and the conversion of dollar into weapons have heavily questioned the US credibility and economy in the international community,” he said.

The era of America’s acceptance as a valid trade partner is over, said Mousavi.

He said that Iran has already found the ways to deal with the restrictions which are the toughest of their kind, and will continue to grow and develop by relying on domestic capabilities and cooperation with friendly countries.

The Iranian official added that the United States is pursuing a “confused and desperate policy” which is based on “bullying, unilateralism and waging economic terrorism against the others”.

He said that the US “lacks the capability of coming up with any sensible and dynamic diplomatic initiative to peacefully resolve disputes with other countries.”

Mousawi once again criticized Washington for withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying that talks with Iran would be possible only if the US returned to the nuclear deal.

“We have kept the way of engagement open. The ball is in Americans’ court and they must boldly admit their mistake of violating the nuclear agreement and fulfill their obligations,” he said.

“They can then interact with our country in the framework of solutions foreseen in the JCPOA like other signatories to the deal,” he said, referring to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Earlier on Friday, US President Donald Trump announced the new sanctions against the Iranian Central Bank, saying they were the “highest sanctions” ever imposed on a foreign country by Washington.

In response to the move, Iran’s Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati described the new sanctions a sign of Washington’s inability to exert “leverage.”

Also, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the recent move showed Washington’s “desperate approach” toward the Islamic Republic.

“The Americans have imposed any sanctions they could on the Islamic Republic. What they are doing now is sanctioning an entity which has been sanctioned before under a different pretext,” Zarif told reporters in New York.

Ever since quitting the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018, Trump has been running what he refers to as a “maximum pressure” campaign, which seeks to pressure Iran into negotiating a new deal that addresses its ballistic missile program and regional influence.

Iran, which had been fully complying with all of its commitments despite the US pullout and the Europeans’ failure to abide by their obligations under the deal, began scaling down its commitments to the JCPOA in early July.