US Sanctions On Iran's Supreme Leader Futile, Insult To Iranian Nation - Iranian Gov't

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published June 25, 2019 | 11:31 PM

The US sanctions imposed on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are merely an insult to the entire Iranian nation, Iraniaan government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Tuesday, labeling the restrictions futile

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th June, 2019) The US sanctions imposed on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are merely an insult to the entire Iranian nation, Iraniaan government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Tuesday, labeling the restrictions futile.

The United States imposed on Monday a new batch of sanctions against Tehran, targeting, in particular, Khamenei. Washington also said it was preparing sanctions against Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

"The sanctions against the [Iranian supreme] leader are an insult to the nation and will not have any effect," Rabiei wrote on his Instagram page.

According to the official, US sanctions will unite the Iranian people even further.

Reacting to the US actions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, said that the sanctions against Zarif were a sign that Washington was lying when saying it was ready to engage in negotiations with Tehran. As for restrictive measures against the Iranian supreme leader, Rouhani called them a "stupid" decision.

Relations between Iran and the United States, two arch-rivals, have been taking a nosedive turn for over a year now.

The row started when Trump, an avid critic of the Iranian nuclear deal, abruptly pulled out of the accord, so carefully negotiated by world powers and Iran, in May 2018. Shortly after, Washington unveiled sanctions against the Islamic republic, branding it 'state sponsor of terrorism' without any plausible explanations.

On the anniversary of Trump's pull out of the landmark accord, Iran announced that it had partially discontinued its commitments under the landmark accord and gave Europe 60 days to ensure Iran's interests were protected under the agreement.

The situation reached its peak earlier in June when Iran said that its Revolutionary Guards shot down a US spy drone over Iran's territorial waters. The United States insisted that the drone was flying over the international waters. Iran immediately urged the international community to push the United States to halt its destabilizing actions in the Persian Gulf region.