Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday accused the United States of being “addicted to imposing sanctions”, saying Iran should show Washington that it should quit this addiction.
“We can turn pressure into opportunity through increasing domestic production and non-oil exportation and show the U.S. in next few months that it should quit this addiction [to imposing sanctions],” Zarif said at a joint conference of private sector and the Iranian diplomats, as quoted by the Tehran Times.
“The history of the U.S. foreign relations show that it has imposed the most sanctions against various countries,” he continued.
Zarif claimed the U.S. has become isolated by withdrawing from the international nuclear deal while the world is standing alongside Iran on the matter.
In May, U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, under which sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs to its nuclear program. Washington has since told countries they must stop buying Iranian oil from November 4 or face financial measures.
The European signatories to the deal, however, did not agree with Trump’s move and are trying to save the accord, which they see as crucial to forestalling an Iranian nuclear weapon.
Tehran has demanded that Europe come up with an economic package to offset the effects of the U.S. withdrawal but so far has found Europe’s proposals to be unsatisfactory.
In his remarks on Sunday, Zarif said, “Now, there is the opportunity to pass the current critical situation through unity.”
Zarif also said that the Europeans should decide whether their businessmen, banks and governments favor European interests or U.S. interests.
He noted that there is a “gap between the U.S. and Europe” on the nuclear deal, but added, “I am not inexperienced to say that we can cause a clash between the U.S. and Europe.”
Europe and all the other major countries in the world have come to the conclusion that the current policies that the U.S. is following are “dangerous”, he claimed.