(Reuters) – Iran on Friday condemned Washington’s move to impose shipping-related sanctions, saying it would prevent it from legitimate trading with partners, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The U.S. Treasury said on Thursday it was imposing new sanctions on a few individuals and tankers helping to ship millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil per year to China.
They were the first U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil after U.S. President Donald Trump this week vowed to bring Iran’s crude exports to zero, part of efforts to curb the country’s nuclear capabilities.
“The decision of the new U.S. administration to exert pressure on the Iranian people by preventing Iran from conducting legitimate trade with its economic partners is an illegitimate and unlawful action,” IRNA quoted Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.
Iran, he said, “holds the United States responsible for the consequences and repercussions of such unilateral and bullying actions.”
(dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
