Iran will not engage in a dialogue with the United States as long as it threatens the Islamic Republic with sanctions pressure, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi said at a press stakeout.
The United States imposed on Monday sanctions on Iran’s Leader Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei and eight senior commanders of Iran’s Navy, Aerospace, and Ground Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
“We are not in the business to succumbing to pressure. The US has been applying pressure against Iran, and today, we witnessed that they have added more sanctions. As long as the strategy is there, there is no way that Iran and US can start a dialogue,” Ravanchi said on Monday.
Earlier in the day, at the request of the mission of the United States to the UN, members of the Security Council convened for a closed meeting to discuss Iran’s downing of a US drone. However, Ravanchi said earlier that his country was denied the right to participate in the session.
The ambassador pointed out that the new round of sanctions imposed on Iran signalizes the US hostile attitude toward the Middle Eastern country.
“The US decision today to impose more sanctions against Iran is yet another indication of continued US hostility against the Iranian people and their leaders. The US has no respect for international law and order,” Ravanchi said. “In order to de-escalate, the US should take steps [and] put aside their Armada from our region and also move away from the economic war against our people.”
Iran said last week it downed a US spy drone flying over the coastal Hormozgan province after it violated the country’s airspace. US Central Command said that the drone was shot down while operating over international waters of the Strait of Hormuz.
Following the incident, President Donald Trump said the United States was “cocked and loaded” for retaliatory strikes on Iran but added that he called off planned attacks because they would have been “disproportionate.”
Tensions between the United States and Iran have been rising since Washington pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers last year.
Source: Iranian Agencies
