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Iran warns over ‘economic war’ waged through US sanctions

By Newsdesk
June 11, 2019

TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign minister warned Monday of the consequences of waging “economic war” against the Islamic republic through US sanctions, saying those conducting and supporting it could not expect to “remain safe”.

“One cannot expect an economic war to continue against the Iranian people and that those waging this war and those supporting it remain safe,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said at a joint news conference in Tehran with his German counterpart Heiko Maas.

“The only way to decrease tensions in the region is to stop the economic war,” he added, noting Germany and the European Union could have an “important role” to play in defusing the situation.

The visiting German foreign minister said his country would do its utmost to ensure tensions do not escalate. “There is war in Syria and in Yemen, fortunately not here,” Maas said in Tehran. “We want to do everything we can to keep it that way” for Iran.

“Nevertheless, the tensions here in the region are worrying, and we fear that single events can trigger developments that end in violence, and we want to prevent this under all circumstances,” he added.

Maas met Zarif in Tehran, and both said they had discussed the future of the nuclear deal and regional issues. Yet the press conference after their meeting appeared tense as the two ministers seemingly agreed on little in their remarks.

“We had a serious, frank and rather long discussion,” Zarif told reporters at the news conference. Ahead of his meeting with Zarif, the German minister acknowledged the economic benefits Tehran hoped for from the deal were now “more difficult to obtain” but urged Iran to fully respect the agreement. It was in Iran´s “political and strategic interest to maintain this agreement and the dialogue with Europe”, he said.

The nuclear deal, Maas said, is “extraordinarily important” for Europe´s security and they “have made the greatest effort to meet (their) commitments.” “We will not work miracles. But we are doing all we can to prevent a failure.” But Iran´s foreign ministry begged to differ. “What the Europeans must do, and have done has so far, has not satisfied” our interests, ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told a news conference on Monday.

Iran has accelerated enrichment of uranium, IAEA says: Iran has followed through on a threat to accelerate its production of enriched uranium, the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Monday, departing from his usual guarded language to say he was worried about increasing tension.

Recent weeks have seen U.S.-Iranian confrontation sharply increase, a year after Washington abandoned an agreement between Iran and world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international financial sanctions.

Washington tightened sanctions from the start of May, ordering all countries and companies to halt all imports of Iranian oil or be banished from the global financial system. It has also begun discussing military confrontation, dispatching extra troops to the region to counter what it describes as Iranian threats. Iran has responded with a threat to increase its enrichment of uranium, saying it was up to Europeans who still support the nuclear deal to save it by finding ways to ensure Tehran receives the economic benefits it was promised.