Iran has interpreted the new US sanctions against an Iranian petrochemicals company as proof of the unbelievable nature of the American call offers. „The recent US sanctions are again a clear violation of international rules and a confirmation of American economic terrorism,“ said Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi today. They showed that the negotiating offers of US President Donald Trump „absurd, empty and fraudulent,“ said the spokesman, according to the state news agency IRNA.
The US Treasury yesterday imposed sanctions on petrochemical giant PGPIC and its subsidiaries for alleged links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Because of the massive US sanctions Iran has been in an acute economic crisis for months. The national currency rial is only half the value, and people are suffering from inflation.
Diplomatic offensive of Berlin and Tokyo
The recent US sanctions also complicate the planned mediation attempts by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Both will meet in the coming days with the Iranian leadership in Tehran. Maas wants to prevent the exit of Iran from the Vienna nuclear agreement of 2015, Abe wants to motivate Tehran to negotiate with the United States.
However, Iran has repeatedly stressed that negotiations would only make sense if Trump returned to the Vienna nuclear deal and lifted the sanctions. Before there will be no negotiations. Tehran is also threatening to withdraw from the nuclear agreement, if it is not implemented in accordance with the contract by the beginning of July.
