In this file photo released on Aug 11, 2022, by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani speaks in Tehran, Iran. Kanaani condemned new US sanctions on Iran, saying Washington's insistence on resorting to illegal and unilateral sanctions is proof of its "hostility and hypocrisy" toward Tehran and the 2015 nuclear deal. (PHOTO / AP)

TEHRAN – The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman condemned new US sanctions on Iran, saying Washington's insistence on resorting to illegal and unilateral sanctions is proof of its "hostility and hypocrisy" toward Tehran and the 2015 nuclear deal.
Nasser Kanaani made the remarks in a statement published on the Foreign Ministry's website on Thursday night, reacting to the fresh sanctions imposed by the US Department of the Treasury on a number of Iranian companies.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanaani emphasized that Iran definitely reserves all rights to take the necessary actions to counter such coercive measures

Kanaani said the move by US President Joe Biden to resort to the same "failed" sanctions policy of his predecessor Donald Trump will only make Iran more determined to pursue its national development objectives and use its "legal and inalienable" rights.

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The continuation of the US insistence on resorting to the "illegal and unilateral" sanctions proves Washington's hostility and hypocrisy toward Tehran and the nuclear deal, and is in contradiction with the international law principles and regulations, he stressed.
The spokesman emphasized that Iran definitely reserves all rights to take the necessary actions to counter such coercive measures.
On Thursday, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that it has imposed sanctions on "9 entities across multiple jurisdictions that have played a critical role in the production, sale, and shipment of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum worth hundreds of millions of US dollars to buyers in Asia."
It said the sanctions are "targeting 6 Iran-based petrochemical manufacturers or their subsidiaries, and 3 firms in Malaysia and Singapore."

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Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.
The sanctions have mainly targeted Iran's oil exports and banking sector.