Tehran: (Reuters) Iran condemned the United States’ new economic sanctions on Friday as “state terrorism” and said other countries were legally obliged not to implement them.
The Iranian foreign ministry’s statement came as mediators stepped up efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which handled 20% of global oil supplies before the war began six months ago, and whose status remains the biggest obstacle to a peace deal.
President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday warned countries to cut their business ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions as part of what it billed as an “economic D-Day,” though the Treasury Department stopped short of actually imposing penalties.
Trump reiterated on Thursday that the U.S. was not talking with Iran, while the White House said Washington’s economic campaign would continue until Tehran decided to “come to the table in a meaningful way”.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that all countries were obligated under international law to refrain from implementing U.S. sanctions against Tehran, adding that participation in them amounted to complicity in imposing one state’s unlawful will on independent states.
It branded the new U.S. measures a “crime against humanity” that put the health and livelihood of millions of civilians at serious risk, and called on other nations and United Nations bodies to uphold the rule of law.
‘PRESSURE DOESN’T WORK,’ IRAN TELLS US
With the U.S. focused on its economic pressure campaign, others have sought to revive diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he had stressed during talks with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Thursday the importance of returning to the pre-war status of open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Friday described the talks with Al Thani as “creative”, and he renewed his appeal to the U.S. to stop putting military and economic pressure on his country and to resume negotiations.