Iranian Deputy FM Blasts US Dual-Track Approach as “Unacceptable”

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi lambasted the US for imposing sanctions against more Iranian companies and entities as “unfair”, “cruel” and “totally unacceptable”, warning that Washington cannot claim to be interested in resolving its nuclear standoff with Tehran while continuing hostilities.
“The dual-track performance of the Americans is by no means acceptable; on one hand they claim to be interested in resolving the problem, and on the other they resort to such measures that are rejected from our point of view and even from the viewpoint of many other countries and practically run counter to the claims that they make in the negotiations,” Takht Ravanchi told reporters on Saturday.

He noted that the Iranian officials on different occasions have strongly criticized the US stances and actions for the very same reason.

“We have explicitly declared our views about these actions (imposing sanctions) before and strongly criticized the Americans’ stances and actions in this regard in both in private and public meetings,” Takht Ravanchi said.

He reiterated that the US sanctions are rejected, and said, “One cannot claim that on the one hand he wants to enter talks with good will and proceed with the negotiations and on the other hand resorts to such levers that in our view are not only doomed but completely inefficient.”

“From our point of view, the international sanctions, specially the US embargoes, are unfair and cruel, and our people are not influenced by such actions,” the deputy foreign minister underscored.
The US imposed sanctions against more Iranian companies and individuals despite the interim nuclear deal cut in November 24, 2013, between Tehran and the six major world powers. The US Treasury Department said on Friday that the sanctions have targeted shipping firms, oil companies, airlines and six Iranian banks.

On November 24, Iran and the world powers sealed a six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program. In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the Sextet of world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran and continue talks with the country to settle all problems between the two sides.

Earlier today, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham also condemned the US new sanctions, and said they are against the Geneva agreement inked by Tehran and the world powers, including the US, in November.

“This move fully runs counter to the trend of the settlement of the nuclear issue,” Afkham said in a statement.

She said that Iran dismisses any unilateral interpretation of the Geneva deal by the US and “strongly believes that the imposed sanctions are against the US undertakings based on the Geneva agreement”.

Stressing that the new sanctions will leave negative and unconstructive impacts on the trend of the nuclear talks between Iran and the G5+1, Afkham said, “Such measures question specially the seriousness, honesty and good will of the US and other parties to the negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and bring uncertainty and doubt in their commitment to any possible final agreement which should certainly guarantee the removal of all illegal and illegitimate sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

She said that while Iran has taken confidence-building measures reflected in numerous reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Tehran expects similar moves by the US and other G5+1 members and reserves its right to adopt reciprocal measures.

“The US and other members of the G5+1 which have kept mum on these explicit violations of the Geneva agreement are responsible for the consequences of this trend,” Afkham said.

“The era of using the inefficient tactic of pressure and negation is over and it is the time for the US to seriously and explicitly adopt a stable realistic approach to Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and show a steady practical attitude accordingly,” she added.