Iran blasts US bid to disrupt people's businesses with new sanctions

Iran has strongly condemned new sanctions imposed by the United States on top officials and multiple sectors of the Iranian economy, saying the "illegal" measures are aimed at disrupting people's businesses.

"Unfortunately, the Americans have adopted a kind of unilateral, illegal and fruitless behavior, and are insisting on repeating it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Saturday.

The latest round of US sanctions announced by the US on Friday will target eight senior Iranian officials as well as the country's construction, manufacturing, textiles, mining, aluminum, copper, iron and steel industries.

Those sanctions mean "we will cut off billions of dollars of support" to the Iranian government, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a joint news conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the White House.

Trump administration imposes new sanctions on Iran

The Trump administration has imposed new sanctions on Iran targeting the country’s metals sector and several senior government officials.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump tweeted a message of support for a group of university students who protested in Tehran following Iran's accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner. 

"To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I've stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage," Trump tweeted. 

His message came after he ordered the US assassination of the Middle East's most prominent anti-terror Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which triggered huge protests across Iran. 

Mousavi said the fresh sanctions disregard all international norms and regulations, and directly target the industries that are interrelated with the normal life of millions of Iranians.

"The recent executive order is a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and US obligations under international law," he said. 

Resolution 2231, adopted in 2015, endorses the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the nuclear program of Iran.  

The new US sanctions, Mousavi said, further laid bare the nature of the United States’ hostile policies towards Iran.

"The US regime's measure is meant to disrupt the businesses of a large number of Iranian people and deprive them of access to their fundamental economic rights under international conventions," Mousavi said.

The sanctions, he added, have been "based on a lack of understanding of Iran and the Iranians.”

The United States' unilateral actions have now become a problem for the international community, Mousavi said. 

"American industries have long been unable to compete with other countries' industries, and the US regime has engaged in unfair trade competition with the rest of the world by imposing unusual sanctions or tariffs on political and security grounds," he said. 

“These unconventional efforts will not work, and the American regime will eventually have to face the realities and concede defeat,” Mousavi added. 

Since scrapping the JCPOA in May 2018, the Trump administration has unleashed its “toughest ever” sanctions against Iran.

In April 2019, the White House terminated sanctions waivers for major buyers of crude from the Islamic Republic in an attempt to bring Iran’s oil exports to “zero.”

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