Just over a week after US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew expressed hope that increased sanctions against Iran would be effective, because “the alternatives are worse”, Iran’s Foreign Minister has said that Washington should begin to “cooperate with Iran”.
In an interview with Fars News — close to the Revolutionary Guards — about new Executive and Congressional sanctions on Iran that came into force on July 1, Ali Akbar Salehi said the move was “illegitimate” and a continuation of a policy that began after Iran’s 1979 Revolution.

“This approach has gone on for 34 years and so far has not taken them anywhere…. Our recommendation here is that the Americans learn from history and begin to cooperate with Iran.”

The new sanctions — agreed before Iran’s June 2013 Presidential election — target the shipping and automobile sectors, financial transactions involving gold, and holdings of Iran’s currency.

Salehi’s comments urging Washington to “cooperate” with Iran come after the Supreme Leader published a digest of his anti-American comments over the past years, a hint that Khamenei could oppose any move to engage with Washington.

By Enduring America

 

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