Iran Warns of Response to New US Sanctions

A top military commander said Iran would never be compelled by the US sanctions to relinquish its regional role and they will only strengthen its resolve to push ahead with its regional operations and defensive missile program.  

IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari also told a gathering of military commanders in Tehran on Sunday that the sanctions would fail to achieve their goal of dragging Iran to the table of negotiations aimed at curbing its regional clout, IRNA reported.

US President Donald Trump grudgingly signed the "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act" on Aug. 2 after the US Congress overwhelmingly approved the measure despite Trump's reservations about how it might affect his desire for improved relations with Moscow.

The law imposed fresh sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea over issues, such as Iran's ballistic missiles program, North Korea's nuclear weapons development and alleged efforts by Russia to interfere in the 2016 US election, which Moscow denies.

The sanctions package also targeted Iran for alleged human rights abuses, terrorism sponsorship and arms shipments and added to the sanctions the US had already imposed on the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and its unit responsible for foreign operations, the Qods Force.

***No Talks on Region

"The Islamic Republic intends to resolve the regional issues at a place other than the negotiating table. There is nothing to negotiate and no [reliable] party to negotiate with," Jafari said.

Iran has denounced the sanctions as a breach of the 2015 nuclear deal and retaliated with a parliamentary bill to "counter America's terrorist and adventurist actions".

The historic agreement came out of over 18 months of talks between Iran and its arch-foe, the United States, and the other five powers to end a decade-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

Trump has railed against the multi-party deal, achieved by his predecessor Barack Obama, and appears ready to pull out of it.

The anti-US parliamentary measure provides for a multimillion-dollar boost in spending on Tehran's missile program and IRGC's overseas operations.

"America's conduct proved that we cannot develop our foreign relations by solely relying on JCPOA," Jafari said, using an abbreviation that stands for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name of the accord.

He warned that the Islamic Republic would move to step up its defensive military power in response to Trump's hostile stance on the action plan.

"The Americans should know that the Islamic Republic would use the Trump administration's stupid behavior toward JCPOA to make great strides in advancing its defensive, regional and missile programs," he said.

Jafari's warning came two days after White House Press Secretary Huckabee Sanders said Trump will announce new US responses to Iran's missile tests, alleged support for terrorism and cyber operations as part of his new broader Iran strategy.

Trump's administration earlier this year considered, but then put on hold, adding the IRGC to the US list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The Qods Force and individuals and entities associated with IRGC are on the list, but the organization as a whole is not.

The hawkish US president is also expected to announce he will decertify JCPOA in the congressionally mandated quarterly notification on Iran's compliance in the coming days, in a step that could result in the collapse of the pact.

This is while the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly verified Iran's commitments and other parties to the deal, including Washington's European allies, have rejected Trump's hawkish stance toward the UN-endorsed agreement.