Zarif: US waging ‘economic terrorism’ against Iran

Iran’s foreign minister says the US is waging “economic terrorism” against the Islamic Republic by employing restrictive measures that are troubling the relief efforts targeting flood-stricken people across the country.

Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted the remarks on Monday, saying the sanctions are “impeding aid efforts by Iranian Red Crescent to all communities devastated by unprecedented floods. Blocked equipment includes relief choppers.”

“This isn’t just economic warfare; it’s economic TERRORISM,” he added.

The United States under President Donald Trump left a multi-lateral nuclear deal with Iran in 2017. It later returned the sanctions that had been lifted under the accord.

Zarif also reminded that the economic restrictions, which Washington is deploying against Tehran under the banner of “maximum pressure” is “flouting UNSC Res 2231 & ICJ ruling.”

The nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, has the UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany as its other signatories. It was ratified in the form of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2231 after conclusion in Vienna in July 2015.

In October 2018, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s principal judicial organ, ordered in response to a lawsuit filed by Iran that the United States had to halt the unilateral sanctions it has re-imposed on “humanitarian” supplies.

Washington’s refusal to relieve its bans comes as countrywide flooding, unleashed by heavy downpours on Iran since March 19, has killed scores of people and has pushed relief and rescue organizations to the utmost.

PressTV-Iran floods: New alerts issued as heavy rains continueEmergency alerts and evacuation orders have been issued in several provinces, where heavy rainfalls have triggered raging torrents of water.

A day earlier, Zarif had said that Trump was grasping “at every straw” to portray his failed policies on Tehran as a success. “Only thing proven is that he rejoices over the misery that he thinks he has imposed on ordinary Iranians,” the top diplomat tweeted.

“Like his predecessors, he will learn that Iranians never submit to pressure,” Zarif, however, added.