Iranian Foreign Minister 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.
Calling the US restrictions "a desperate PSYOP," Zarif wrote that they demonstrate that the US is targeting ordinary Iranians.
The bank Zarif was referring to was Tat Bank, a financial institution which closed in 2012 after the introduction of US sanctions that same year. As for the ship, this was a reference to the Sanchi oil tanker, which sank off China in early January with 32 souls onboard after colliding with a Chinese cargo ship.
Earlier Monday, Zarif tweeted that "US bullying" via sanctions was "backfiring," accompanying the tweet with a series of screenshots of news stories about European countries, Russia, China and others disregarding the new US restrictions. "The US — & not Iran – is isolated," the foreign minister insisted.
Washington unilaterally reinstated its energy and banking-related sanctions against Tehran on Monday, acting on an promise to do so made in May, when President withdrew the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Iran nuclear deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani promised that Iran would continue to sell its energy to foreign countries notwithstanding what he called the "illegal and unjust" restrictions imposed by the US.