Tasnim � Secretary of Iran�s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani highlighted the failure of the US policy of maximum pressure on Iran and its move to blacklist the country�s top diplomat, stressing that the Islamic Republic�s active diplomacy will not be affected by sanctions.

�The Islamic Republic of Iran�s active and effective diplomacy is unsanctionable, and neither Trump nor any of his allies could prevent the audible voice and the rightfulness of Iran from reaching the world,� Shamkhani wrote in an article on Sunday, in response to the US government�s blacklisting of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

In the article, discussing various aspects of failure of the US policy toward Iran, Shamkhani said, �By withdrawing from the JCPOA and adopting the policy of maximum pressure against Iran, (US President Donald) Trump tried to humiliate its internal rivals and the international community to prove to everybody that he is a different person and could gain the most at the least cost by pursuing his own creative methods.�

The official added that the US administration has utilized the instrument of sanctions to undermine the main pillars of Iran�s power, namely the leadership, people, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and the organization in charge of diplomacy.

�The (Iranian) people�s cold and retaliatory reaction (to the US), the growing stabilization of the country�s economic conditions, the rise in the influential regional and international activities, as well as the Supreme Leader of the Revolution�s decisive and unshakable stances have disappointed Trump�s plans in the approach he has started, and increased the pressure of internal rivals and the international community on him in unprecedented way,� he added.

Shamkhani also said that Zarif�s move to refuse Trump�s invitation for a face-to-face meeting forced the US �train of maximum pressure� to stall in the �station of failure�, stressing that people on board such a doomed train have no choice but to change the track, honor their commitments, and respect the legal rights of the Islamic Republic.

On May 8, 2018, Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA, a 159-page nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) that came into force in January 2016.

Last week, the US Department of State said it has designated Zarif for acting on behalf of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei. The US president had issued an executive order on June 24, imposing sanctions on the Leader and his office and authorizing sanctions on others associated with Ayatollah Khamenei.

Zarif has dismissed the US move, saying that being designated by the US would not affect him since he has ho properties outside Iran.