Iran’s power, not weakness, triggering US pressure: Zarif
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the United States’ policy of piling incessant pressure on Iran is mainly due to the fact that Tehran has grown more powerful over the past years.
“American pressure on Iran is due to Iran’s power and might and not weakness,” said Zarif on Saturday while meeting a group of Iranian parliamentarians in Tehran.
The Iranian top diplomat further said that the United States’ diplomatic status in the world is on the decline, adding, however, that Iran has successfully implemented its regional and international plans over the past years.
“The US is worried about its defeat in the field of diplomacy,” said Zarif while discussing Washington’s decision to impose rounds of economic sanctions on Iran since it withdraw from a deal on the country’s nuclear program last year.
Members of the Iranian parliament’s Diplomacy Fraction met Zarif on Saturday to hail his role in clarifying Iran’s position on the global stage which caused Washington to impose sanctions on the Iranian diplomat last week.
The bans on Zarif came after he visited the US last month to attend a United Nations meeting where he pointedly criticized the US for adopting a politicized approach to deal with Iran’s nuclear case.
Zarif said in several interviews to major international media outlets during the trip that Washington was trying to use Iran’s case to advance its unilateralist agenda.
Iranian authorities have condemned the sanctions on Iran’s top negotiator, saying they are a clear sign that Washington is not interested in holding talks with Iran.
US sanctions on Iran began in November months after US President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 international deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.
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