New U.S. sanctions show 'maximum failure'

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Friday lashed out at U.S. new sanctions against Iran, saying it shows the "maximum failure" of Washington's anti-Iran policy.

Washington on Thursday extended its sanctions on Iran's construction sector as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sector is "heavily influenced by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC)."

"Subjecting construction workers to economic terrorism only manifests maximum failure of maximum pressure" of the United States against the Islamic republic, Zarif tweeted on Friday.

The Iranian foreign minister said, "the U.S. can sanction every man, woman, and child but Iranians will never submit to bullying."

"Rather than dig itself deeper, the U.S. should abandon failed policies and return to #JCPOA," Zarif added, referring to the formal title of the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Iranian tensions with the United States have escalated sharply since U.S. President Donald Trump last year withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Following the exit from the nuclear deal, the U.S. returned the sanctions, mainly on Iran's energy and financial sectors, which had previously been removed under the deal.

As a reaction to Washington's withdrawal from the JCPOA and its subsequent sanctions, and in a response to Europe's sluggishness to save Iran's interests under the deal, Iran started to withdraw from its nuclear commitments in May.