“Beside sanctions, they [the US] talk about war and negotiations,” Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said in a speech published on his official website.
“They talk about a spirit of war to frighten the cowards,” said Khamenei, adding that they US played a “poor game” when it came to negotiations.
The 2015 Obama-era deal, agreed by the US, Iran, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russi, restricted Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions.
European partners stand by deal
European partners have stood by the deal, implementing measures to protect EU companies doing businesses in Iran, even as Trump warned in tweet they faced the fallout of US sanctions.
“Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States,” Trump tweeted Tuesday.
The collapse of the Iranian rial since Trump announced the US would pull out of the nuclear deal has already wreaked economic havoc, and the first wave of sanctions will likely hit the vulnerable economy further.
In Monday’s speech, Khamenei admitted that while the economy had taken a hit, this was largely due to domestic matters, rather than international sanctions.
Last week’s reimposed sanctions affect, among other things, the purchase or acquisition of US dollars by the Iranian government, the country’s auto industry and trade in gold or precious metals.
Another phase of US sanctions will be reimposed in November and will target Iran’s crucial oil industry.
CNN’s Nada Altaher reported from Abu Dhabi, Sheena McKenzie wrote in London.
Source : Nbcnewyork