Sanctions make Iranians hate US more: Iran FM

Iran’s foreign minister says the US government has gained nothing but the Iranian nation’s hatred by toughening sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program.

“The only thing that these sanctions have produced is the resentment of the Iranian people that the United States is putting pressure on them. Nothing else,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with the National Interest magazine.
He dismissed US officials’ allegations that Iran agreed to negotiate its nuclear energy program with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany under pressure from sanctions, saying, “No sanctions brought Iran to the negotiating table. If they say they brought Iran to the negotiating table, I tell them that we were prepared to negotiate.”
Zarif said Iran and the six countries – the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany – will definitely reach a permanent deal should Washington “come to the understanding that sanctions are not an asset.”
He expressed regret that certain US officials continue to view the sanctions as an “extremely important asset for them,” noting that the United States is expected only to “get an agreement that can lead to the removal of sanctions.”