US Economic Terrorism Targeting Civilians Deliberately: Zarif

Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif denounced the US sanctions against the other countries, saying Washington’s economic terrorism is deliberately targeting civilians in order to meet political objectives.

In a post on his Twitter account on Friday, Zarif said the US economic terrorism against Cuba, China, Russia, Syria, Iran and the others “deliberately target civilians, trying to achieve illegitimate political objectives through intimidation of innocent people.”

“US rouge behavior now includes piracy, bribery and blackmail,” Zarif deplored, adding that Iran salutes Cuba and stands with it.

His message came after Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Eduardo Rodriguez Parrilla condemned the US sanctions against Iran´s maritime entities as an “another violation of international law.”

“US coercive measures preventing the movement of Iranian oil affect the brother peoples of Iran and Syria and threaten peace in that volatile region,” the top Cuban diplomat said in a tweet on Thursday.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on a shipping network that Iran uses to sell oil, and unveiled a $15 million reward to anyone with information that disrupts the Iranian oil sales.

The Iranian administration has branded the US sanctions on Tehran as an act of economic terrorism.

In comments in May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for stronger internal unity and mutual trust for fighting an economic war that the US has waged against the Islamic Republic, stressing that Washington could never bring Iran to its knees.

The president also stressed that the US government will abandon its hostile policies against Iran when it realizes that the sanctions have a small impact.