Iran has strongly condemned new US sanctions against Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and some entities and vessels involved in the country's crude exports as a testament to Washington's "infringement of the law and hypocrisy."
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei made the remarks on Friday, a day after the US Treasury Department designated Paknejad and three entities engaged in the Iranian oil trade in China, and named three shipping vessels as blocked property for their use in the transactions.
The sanctions followed the delivery to Iran of a letter US President Donald Trump had written to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. During an interview with Fox News last week, Trump threatened military action against Tehran if it did not engage in talks on a new nuclear deal.
Baghaei said the new bans refute the repeated claims by American officials about their readiness for negotiations and show the US hostility to the development, progress, and prosperity of the Iranian people.
He also noted that the US "addiction" to the policy of sanctions and pressure against independent countries violates the rule of law at the international level and poses a threat to international peace and security.
"The evil actions of the United States to disrupt Iran's economic and trade exchanges with other countries are a clear violation of the fundamental principles and rules of international law and free trade," he said.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran holds the US government responsible for the consequences and effects of such unilateral and illegitimate actions."
The spokesman added that "unseemly US actions" like the one targeting Iranian oil minister cannot affect the national resolve to defend the country's independence and dignity and strive for its development and prosperity.
In a statement, Iran's Ministry of Petroleum said Paknejad was sanctioned due to his extensive efforts to sell Iranian oil.
"Sanctions against Paknejad and a group of oil managers, as well as companies and individuals related to the Iranian oil industry are meant to exert maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic," it said.
"Iran has repeatedly shown its ability to circumvent sanctions over the past years and it is still selling its oil in international markets using various methods," added the statement.
The US Treasury said the imposition of new sanctions "advances" Trump's so-called policy of maximum pressure on Iran.
During his first presidential term, Trump pursued the policy of pressure against Iran, unilaterally withdrawing Washington from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposing a series of illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
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