Decisive defeat: Iran says Trump’s maximum pressure fails miserably, targets civilians

A top Iranian diplomat has once again reiterated the failure of the United States’ ‘maximum pressure’ policy vis-à-vis Iran, saying the country is devising strategies and consulting with “friends” on newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump’s policies.

“During his first term in office, Trump pursued the maximum pressure policy towards Iran, and this is a failed policy, and it is not just us saying this,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi told ISNA on Monday.

He added that it is unclear now what policies Trump will adopt concerning Iran, stressing the need to wait and see.

He noted that during his first term in office, Trump believed that he could impose his demands on Iran through the maximum pressure policy and by withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), “but this did not happen in practice.”

The American officials even thought that a few months after the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and exerting heavy pressure on Iran, the country would be compelled to accept an agreement based on their demands, Takht Ravanchi said.

“As mentioned, this did not happen and it has been proven that the maximum pressure policy towards Iran has failed,” he emphasized.

Araqchi warns US against resumption of ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran

Iran’s foreign minister has warned the US against the resumption of its so-called "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran, stressing Washington’s previous attempts to oppress Iran have only failed.

Back in May 2018, the US began to unilaterally impose sanctions against Iran after withdrawing from the JCPOA.

The then-Trump administration launched what it called a maximum pressure campaign against Iran at the time, targeting the Iranian nation with the “toughest ever” sanctions.

Although Trump failed to reach his professed goals, the bans have hurt the Iranian population.

‘Regional developments will not be included in nuclear talks’

Takht Ravanchi rejected “irrelevant and baseless” claims that Iran's power has diminished in the region or that concessions can be obtained from Iran in the talks pertaining to the country’s nuclear issue.

“Regional issues have nothing to do with the [nuclear] negotiations,” he said.

“It is a fact that Israel, in light of the crimes it has committed, has dealt blows to Hezbollah and Hamas (the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance movements), but resistance still stands strong and enjoys popular support,” the Iranian diplomat emphasized.

'Cruel sanctions only target Iranian people'

In response to a question about any data on Iranian nationals imprisoned in other countries on charges of circumventing sanctions, Takht Ravanchi corroborated that these Iranian nationals are being kept in prisons due to the US sanctions.

“They get caught in Europe or other countries due to the agreements that the US has with those countries,” he said.

He further emphasized that the “cruel” sanctions target the Iranian people and noted, “Some Iranian nationals have been arrested on suspicion of violating the sanctions.”

The deputy foreign minister added that some Iranians, who have been arrested outside the US at the request of the Americans on the pretext of circumventing sanctions, are sometimes extradited to the United States under pressure.

“We have data on the number of prisoners who are in the US and outside the US due to violation of sanctions,” Takht Ravanchi explained.

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