Zarif Raps US Sanction on Iran Central Bank as War Crime
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The US move to impose new sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran amounts to a war crime, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.
Addressing a conference on global economy and sanctions, held in Tehran on Wednesday, Zarif said the US administration’s decision to impose new sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran is tantamount to a war crime, because it obstructs the purchase of medicines and foodstuff.
“The US’ recent measures against Iran do not entail the conditions for the imposition of sanctions, but involves conditions for economic terrorism and war crime,” Zarif deplored, saying the White House has built its economic war strategy on the basis of violating international laws.
Highlighting Iran’s “maximum resistance with reliance on internal capabilities” to counter the US policy of maximum pressure, the foreign minister called for the adoption of strategies for reducing vulnerability to the hegemony of the US dollar in foreign trade.
Zarif underlined that tensions with other countries, particularly with the neighbors, must be addressed and minimized in order to focus the national power on countering the US economic terrorism.
He also called for collective action by the international community to prevent the US from turning its hostile and illegal policies into a global issue.
In September, the US Department of the Treasury slapped sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran and the country’s National Development Fund, a move US President Donald Trump described as the “highest level of sanctions”.
The successive sanctions on Iran heightened after the US withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018.