Iran to respond resumption of sanctions war by U.S.

Tehran has been carefully planning to circumvent the new round of US sanctions against Iran, the Islamic Republic's First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said.

The First Vice-President pointed to Washington’s recently-unveiled list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List) and said the country has plans to deal with the new sanctions.

“I cannot lie and say that sanctions have no effect on the country. We will do all we can to reduce the effects of the sanctions on the country’s economy," Tasnim cited Jahangiri as saying.

He further called on all Iranian industrialists to work together to increase the production of goods in a bid to cut the country’s reliance on other countries.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has mocked the Trump administration following the imposition of new US sanctions against his country, pointing out that the new "toughest sanctions regime ever" ended up targeting an Iranian bank which closed six years ago, along with an oil tanker which sank off China earlier this year.

Yesterday, the United States restored sanctions targeting Iran’s oil, banking and transport sectors and threatened more action to stop what Washington called its “outlaw” policies. The measures are part of a wider effort by U.S. President Donald Trump to curb Tehran’s missile and nuclear programmes and diminish the Islamic Republic’s influence in the Middle East.

Trump’s moves target Iran’s oil exports, as well as its financial sector, essentially making 50 Iranian banks and their subsidiaries off limits to foreign banks on pain of losing access to the U.S. financial system.

The senior research fellow of the Department of Near and Middle East at the Institute for Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lana Ravandi-Fadai, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the sanctions, despite all the waivers have already affected the Iranian economy. "As early as Monday, common goods became much more expensive, and before the sanctions, the sale of apartments stopped. The situation in the country is extremely difficult. Of course, the Iranians will look for ways out. Some large Russian companies left the Iranian business right before the new sanctions, but others entered the market. I think we will still help the Iranians at the political and economic levels," she said.

The orientalist stressed that modern Iran will not give up the Islamic power - negotiations can be conducted only on the correction of the republic’s foreign policy strategies. "As for the plan to neutralize the sanctions, it is most likely related to cooperation with Iran’s closest partners - Turkey, Russia and China. I do not think it will be easy for Iranians to abandon Syria, because a lot has been invested in Syria. The situation is difficult, there are many dissatisfied, but the problems that the Iranian people is facing will rally it, not divide it,” Lana Ravandi-Fadai expressed confidence.

The deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association, Andrey Baklanov, drew attention to the nature of the exceptions to the sanctions made by Washington. "Exceptions are made mainly for those states with which the U.S. has some gentlemanly agreements. In general, this package is markedly hostile for Iran, although to a large extent all this hostility is addressed not to Tehran, but to public opinion within the United States, which continues to indulge the strictest assessments regarding Iran by inertia," he said.

At the same time, Iran has enough experience to survive under the new sanctions. "Sanctions is not a new thing for Iran. I've been to Iran and I remember conversations with my Iranian colleagues - they were seriously working at the level of the expert community, politicians and interacting with people in other countries to deal with the sanctions. I think they have a whole reserve program of reaction to the current American sanctions pressure, ” Andrei Baklanov concluded.