US sanctions against Iran are a 'reckless addiction': Javad Zarif
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Friction between Tehran and Washington has increased since last year when US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with six nations and re-imposed sanctions on the country, crippling its economy.
US sanctions against Iran are a "reckless addiction" Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet on Sunday.
"The US' approach to sanctions betrays a pathological and reckless addiction -- a condition that renders no bounds or boundary to what the US may or may not do," Zarif wrote. "And this addictive behaviour affects friends and foes alike, unless collectively pushed back."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, this week, slammed the "irrational" withdrawal of the United States from the multinational nuclear deal on Tehran's nuclear programme, as he met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.
Rouhani's trip to Japan comes after deadly protests last month over petroleum price hikes in Iran, where the economy has been hit by Washington-imposed sanctions.
"I strongly condemn the US for unilaterally and irrationally withdrawing" from the deal, said Rouhani, who became the first Iranian head of state to visit Japan for two decades.
"I hope Japan and other countries will make efforts to maintain this deal."
The US re-imposed crippling sanctions on Iran in 2018 after withdrawing from the international deal aimed at tackling the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme.
Friction between Tehran and Washington has increased since last year when US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with six nations and re-imposed sanctions on the country, crippling its economy.