The imposition of new sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities at regular intervals is an indication of the United States’ failure to achieve its intended objectives, a parliamentarian said.
In a move to disrupt an alleged Iranian-Russian network involved in sending oil to Syria, the US has recently slapped penalties on a number of people and institutions, including an Iranian company and two nationals.
Rasoul Sajjad and Hossein Yaqoubi, officials at the Central Bank of Iran, and Tadbir Kish Medical and Pharmaceutical Company have been sanctioned by the US on charges of facilitating the oil transfers.
According to Jalal Mirzaei, a lawmaker, the recent US measure is a warning to regional countries not to hesitate over pursuing their anti-Iran policies.
“It is part of the successive US sanctions aimed at strengthening the anti-Iran sentiment,” he said in a talk to ICANA.
After scrapping the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in May, the US reimposed its embargoes on Tehran in two rounds and threatened other countries with secondary measures for doing business with Iran so as to paralyze the country’s economy.
Compensatory Strategy
In addition, the White House has been targeting Iranian nationals and organizations time and again, which approach, according to Mirzaei, is aimed at compensating its unfulfilled expectations.
“The Americans expected more countries to join their league [against Iran] as a result of their secondary sanctions and anticipated a serious shock to Iran’s economy, but these did not happen,” he said.
The lawmaker said such measures convey a message to several countries of the region as well as US allies in the Persian Gulf.
“The US intends to send a warning to countries that are feeling uncertain due to the ineffectiveness of US sanctions [on Iran],” he said.
Mirzaei noted that sanctions have become an instrument of last resort whenever US policies fail to meet their targets, which can be seen in its dealings with North Korea, China, Russia and even the European Union.
"The US Treasury Department has become a ministry of war against Iran, but unilateral sanctions that do not have the support of the international community cannot be effective and will go nowhere," he concluded.
