Zarif takes to YouTube against ‘unlawful’ US sanctions

TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took to YouTube on Tuesday to dismiss US sanctions and Washington’s demands of change from Tehran as "absurd, unlawful and fundamentally flawed".

"The US administration appears to believe that imposing draconian sanctions on Iran will bring about such pain to our nation that it will force us to submit to its will," Zarif said in a video message, posted in English and Persian.

"We have weathered difficult times in the face of 40 years of American hostility relying solely on our own resources, and today we and our partners across the globe will ensure that our people are least affected by this indiscriminate assault," he said. Washington’s decision to scrap the multi-nation nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions -- with the last tranche hitting on Monday -- was "pushing it further into global isolation".

The Persian version said the US "will regret this unwise move" and emphasised that the sanctions were aimed at "separating people from each other and from the establishment". The US would be better off rethinking its "unconditional support" for Saudi Arabia and Israel, which has "blinded the US to their appalling atrocities", Zarif said.