US sanctions could push world back to colonial era, says Iran’s Esmaeil Baghaei

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Washington was imposing its will on others. He said no state had the right to pressure banks or companies.

Esmaeil Baghaei said banks and companies could not be stopped from lawful trade. He said the US measures were not merely a continuation of economic war but amounted to interference in global trade.

He said the new US sanctions violated international law and state sovereignty. He said they were an illegal economic war on Iran and that the United States wanted to claim dominance over sovereign states.

He added that the United States could not force an independent country to end lawful trade with another country. He said the US measures also violated the UN Charter, and that no sovereign state could be forced to change its lawful policy.

Esmaeil Baghaei said that accepting US pressure would make sovereignty dependent on foreign permission. He said US policies were weakening the foundations of the UN system and could push the world back towards a fully colonial order.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, reacting to the US sanctions, said US sanctions and pressure had failed before.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US attempt to force unconditional surrender had also failed and the current economic action would fail too. He said, “We have seen this film before.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded in a lively manner to Donald Trump’s threat to impose the harshest sanctions in history on Iran. He called the old US policies a failure.