Iranian president’s Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi has downplayed the latest sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran, saying they are nothing but a mere show by the hawkish administration of lame-duck US President Donald Trump towards the Islamic Republic.
“The recent US sanctions, while nothing more than a show, are another sign of the evil [nature] of Trump’s criminal administration – a bankrupt government that even in its final days cannot put aside its hostility towards Iranians,” Vaezi wrote in a post on his Twitter account on Saturday.
The outgoing administration of President Trump on Friday imposed more sanctions on companies in Iran, China and the United Arab Emirates for doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and on three Iranian entities over conventional arms proliferation, Press TV reported.
The fresh round of sanctions came only two days after the US blacklisted two Iranian foundations and their subsidies, claiming the institutions kept the ownership over large parts of the country’s economy.
Tensions have risen between Iran and the US after Trump unilaterally left a 2015 historic nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, describing the deal, which was struck by his predecessor Barack Obama, as the worst ever negotiated.
The US administration also reinstated the sanctions that had been lifted against Iran under the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The fresh sanctions come in the final days of the Republican Trump’s term. He is due to hand over power to Democrat President-elect Joe Biden.
Biden, who is set to take office on January 20, has denounced Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA.
He has also expressed willingness to return the United States to the nuclear deal.