Stab in the Back? Tehran Slams US Plans to Impose New Anti-Iran Sanctions

Tehran condemns US plans to impose additional sanctions on it as “illegal,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal wrote, citing unnamed sources in the White House, that the Obama Administration was mulling new sanctions against Iranian firms and individuals allegedly involved in developing Tehran’s ballistic missile program.

The sanctions, being considered by the US Treasury Department, may affect nearly a dozen companies and individuals from Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

If imposed, these would be the first sanctions used against the Islamic Republic since Tehran and six world powers — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States  — inked a historic deal on the Iranian nuclear program in July.

"Iran's missile program has nothing to do with the recent agreement over Iran's nuclear program, and nothing can prevent Iran from its legitimate and legal right to strengthen its defensive foundations and national security," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jaber Ansari was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.

"Such a move is illegal, unilateral and tactless, and Iran will respond to any new US sanctions and interfering measures over its defensive missile program," Ansari added.

The Treasury Department’s decision comes as the Obama administration prepares to lift sanctions related to Tehran’s nuclear program.

The lifting of those penalties was set to begin next month, following Iran’s shipment of 25,000 pounds of uranium to Russia, a sign that the government was abiding by the accord.