US sanctions against Iran, act of war: Analyst

A political analyst has slammed the new US sanctions against Iran, denouncing all such embargoes as an act of war, Press TV reports.

“All of the sanctions are a violation of Iran’s sovereignty and really an act of war and all of the sanctions should be lifted,” said Sara Flounders, with the International Action Center in a Friday interview.

“Not only is the US imposing sanctions on Iran but they are saying any country in the world that has any transactions with Iran will then be fined by the US. So it is really sanctions and threats upon the whole world,” she added.

The analyst argued that the US sanctions against Iran “predate” the issues regarding Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

“They came when Iran broke from being a proxy of US power in the region and began its own independent development. It came with the Iranian revolution and so that is the basis of the sanctions on Iran and there have been rounds of sanctions ever since and all of them should be lifted,” she said.

On Thursday, the administration of US President Barack Obama issued new sanctions against more than a dozen companies and individuals for “providing support for” Iran’s nuclear energy program.

Iran has slammed the new US sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic as not constructive, saying that the US administration is responsible for these indiscreet moves.

On November 24, Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – Russia, China, France, Britain and the US – plus Germany sealed an interim deal in the Swiss city of Geneva to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the dispute between the West and Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

In exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the six countries undertook to lift some of the existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic.