TEHRAN —
Iran on Tuesday slammed as “destructive” new
US sanctions targeting its crucial energy sector and vowed a response, at a
time when nuclear talks have stalled for months.
اضافة اعلان
US President Joe
Biden’s administration “is not stopping this unproductive and destructive
action even at a time when efforts are underway to resume negotiations to revive
the Iran nuclear deal,” said foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.
Iran will “show
a firm and immediate response” to the sanctions announced the previous day and
“take all necessary measures to neutralize” their potential impacts on the
country’s trade, Kanani vowed in a statement.
The US
government blacklisted six companies Monday that it said helped Iran export
petrochemicals to East Asia in avoidance of sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear
program.
Three Hong
Kong-based trading companies and one UAE firm were hit with
US Treasury sanctions for helping Iran’s Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Commercial Co.
ship “millions of dollars worth” of petroleum and petrochemical products to
unnamed East Asian buyers, the US Treasury said.
In addition, the
US State Department blacklisted two shipping firms, based in China and
Singapore, for helping arrange the shipments.
The sanctions
block any assets the entities own under US jurisdiction and ban US persons or
entities from doing business with them, effectively constricting their access
to the global financial system.
The move came as
talks in
Vienna between Iran and several major powers, including the US, to
revive the frayed 2015 international agreement on the Iranian nuclear program
have been at a standstill since March.
Last Tuesday, EU
foreign policy chief and coordinator of the nuclear talks between Iran and
world powers, Josep Borrell, submitted a new draft text and urged all sides to
accept it or “risk a dangerous nuclear crisis”.
Kanani
criticized the Biden administration for “continuing and even expanding” the
“failed” policies of his predecessor Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew
the US from the nuclear deal in 2018.
Tehran, for its
part, has been gradually backing away from its obligations.
Iran had
expressed “optimism” on Monday that the nuclear talks would resume after
Borrell’s draft compromise was reviewed.
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