US Should Abandon its 'Addiction' to Imposing Sanctions - Zarif

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that the United States became used to imposing sanctions against other countries, adding that Tehran would make Washington give up its "addiction."

"We have enough power to show the United States that it should abandon this addiction. We believe that the world has come to the conclusion that the United States should overcome its dependence on sanctions," Zarif was quoted as saying by Iran's ISNA news agency.

The Iranian foreign minister stressed that it was high time the European Union acted in the interests of its member-states and stopped blindly following the policy of US President Donald Trump.

"Of course, I do not think that we can provoke a conflict between the United States and Europe. However, there is a gap between them, which we have to use, there is no need for us to sever their ties," Zarif indicated.

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In late June, the US State Department said that Washington was seeking to persuade its allies to completely abandon imports of Iranian oil by early November, while US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin stressed that the United States was ready to impose sanctions against any country, including China and Russia, that continues importing oil from Iran despite the US restrictions. The US sanctions against Iran's oil fields are expected to come into effect on November 4.

In May, Trump announced that his country would exit the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, stipulating the gradual lifting of anti-Iran sanctions in exchange for Tehran maintaining the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

In addition, Trump decided to reinstate the sanctions previously lifted on Iran. The unilateral move has been opposed by other signatories to the agreement, who remained committed to the deal.