�IRNA � Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri on Thursday criticized Washington's unilateral sanctions against Iran and warned that the US move will entail grave consequences in the Middle East region.


Hariri, who was speaking at Chatham House in London, said the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has something to do with the US statesmen, emphasizing that the anti-Iran sanctions have blocked flow of Lebanon-Iran commercial transactions.

He warned that the sanctions can be felt in the entire Middle East region.

He said Iran is suffering from the sanctions economically and that Lebanon's imports from the country have been disrupted.

Without directly referring to deployment of the US navy in the Persian Gulf, Hariri voiced concern over escalation of tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

He noted that any mistake in that connection will cause a great catastrophe in the entire region and that he believed differences should be settled through dialogue and all measures should be directed towards materialization of peace.

After Washington's May 8 exit from the historic Iran Deal, the US gave 90- and 180-day wind-down periods to other countries before it starts re-imposing oil sanctions on Tehran on November 4.

Part of the US illegitimate sanctions was imposed on Iran on August 9.

On November 5, US President Donald Trump reinstated the US nuclear sanctions on Iran and imposed, as he claimed, �the highest level� of economic bans on the country.

This is while other signatories of the landmark 2015 international accord condemned the US solitary withdrawal from the JCPOA.