Zarif reveals the story behind his sanction by the United States

Tabnak – In his first public speech after being sanctioned by the United States, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif pointed to Washington’s failure to form and alliance against Iran as a sign of its isolation. He also criticized the UK for taking the US side conducting economic terrorism against Iran.

In a press conference in Tehran on Monday, Zarif highlighted the US isolation in the international stage and said the Washington government has become all alone and cannot even form a military alliance. “…the US is all alone in the world today,” he told reporters.

“The US cannot form a coalition in areas that it claims to be a superpower such as the military area,” the Iranian top diplomat added.

“Other countries are embarrassed to have their names on a list next to the US,” he said, adding that wherever the Americans deployed their forces, they failed, like in Afghanistan. Now, 18 years after they invaded Afghanistan, they have been forced to negotiate with the Taliban with humiliation.

“The era of (the US being) a superpower and bullying is over,” Zarif said, adding that the remarks do not mean that the Islamic Republic has any conflict with the people of the US.

His remarks came after reports in recent days that the US has found it difficult to build a maritime coalition in the Persian Gulf, receiving a lukewarm response from European and Asian allies.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Zarif condemned the UK for abetting the United States’ “economic terrorism” against Iran. "The UK government has been complicit in the US’s economic terrorism against Iran," he told foreign and domestic reporters in Tehran on Monday.

The Iranian top diplomat was referring to British naval forces’ seizure of an Iranian-operated supertanker in the Strait of Gibraltar off Spain on July 4. The UK seized the vessel on the allegation that it was carrying Iranian oil to Syria in violation of the European Union’s unilateral sanctions on the Arab country.

Zarif repeated Tehran’s condemnation of the UK seizure as an act of "piracy."

Zarif also said he had been recently sanctioned by the United States after turning down an invitation to the White House by US President Donald Trump. "I was told in New York I would be sanctioned in two weeks unless I accepted that offer, which fortunately I did not," said the Iranian minister.

By imposing the boycott on him, Washington has closed the door to diplomacy, he said, noting, "Sanctioning a foreign minister means failure in talks.”