Iran on Sunday called on the rest of the world to unite against US “reckless actions,” after Washington unilaterally declared UN sanctions against the Islamic republic were back in force.
Meanwhile the the local currency dropped down to its lowest level ever on Sunday, at 272,500 to the US dollar at money exchange shops across Tehran.
The rial has lost more than 30 percent of its value to the dollar since June as sweeping US sanctions on Iran continue to crush its ability to sell oil globally. Iran’s currency was at 32,000 rials to the dollar at the time of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which was signed by the Obama administration but which the Trump administration pulled the US from.
“We expect the international community and all the countries in the world to stand against these reckless actions by the regime in the White House and speak in one voice,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a news conference in Tehran.
The Iranian government spokesman said the snapback sanctions have only happened in “the fantastical world” of the Trump administration. He said the US stands on the wrong side of history. “They are attempting to make everyone believe it, but nobody is buying it except for themselves.”
“It is a television show whose sole presenter, viewers and those cheering it on are Mr. Pompeo himself and a handful of others,” the spokesman said, referring to the US secretary of state.
The Russian foreign ministry also condemned the unilateral declaration by the United States as “illegitimate” and “unacceptable.”
“The illegitimate initiatives and actions of the United States by definition cannot have international legal consequences for other countries,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Russia, a key ally of Iran, accused Washington of putting on a “theatrical performance” and insisted that the US statements “do not correspond to reality.”
It accused the US of “trying to force everyone to wear virtual reality goggles” and accept its version of events, adding: “The world is not an American computer game.”
Washington’s defiance has dealt a “serious blow to the authority of the UN Security Council” and showed “open contempt for its decisions and for international law as a whole,” the ministry said. “This is unacceptable, and not only for us, but for other members of the Security Council too.”
Russia said it “fully supports” the position of the majority of Security Council members that the US moves are “legally and procedurally null and void.”
The United States unilaterally proclaimed on Saturday that UN sanctions against Iran were back in force and promised to punish those who violate them, in a move that risked increasing Washington’s isolation and international tensions.
“Today, the United States welcomes the return of virtually all previously terminated UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
According to him, the measures were “back in effect” from 8:00 p.m. Washington time.
The administration of US President Donald Trump also promised to “impose consequences” on any UN member state which does not comply with the sanctions, even though the United States is one of the only countries in the world which believes they are in force.
