Zarif acknowledges impact of US sanctions on Iran’s economy

Al-Arabia – Just days before the start of a second round of US sanctions on Iran’s oil sector, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif confessed the sanctions would affect his country economically, but would not change Tehran’s policies, warning Washington of the futility such actions.

“Sanctions will have an economic impact, but they will not change policy. The United States must learn that,” Zarif told CBS News in Tehran on Sunday.

“The US has an addiction to sanctions and they believe that the sanctions are the panacea that resolve all the problems. They don’t. They in fact hurt people and we have an obligation as a government to minimize the impact on the people. But sanctions never change policy.”

“This agreement is the best and there can be no better,” Zarif said.

Washington reintroduced sanctions against Iran’s currency trade, metals and auto sectors in August after it pulled out from a multinational 2015 deal that lifted sanctions in return for limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump complained that the deal, approved by his predecessor Barack Obama, does not cover Iran’s ballistic missiles, its role in regional wars or what happens after the nuclear pact begins to expire in 2025.

“The world community has stood up to the U.S. sanctions,” Zarif said, after a trilateral meeting between Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan’s foreign minister.

“The neighboring countries and Europeans nations have resisted against Washington’s unilateral measures.”