Iran has strongly condemned new “illegal” US sanctions against Tehran, saying they contradict Washington’s claims of willingness to negotiate with the Islamic Republic.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday designated an Iranian businessman identified as Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh and his corporation for their role in exports of Iran’s crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Thursday the new sanctions indicate the “lack of goodwill and seriousness” on the part of the US which is about to hold new indirect negotiations with Iran on Saturday. 

They are also “a clear sign of Washington’s hostile approach toward the Iranian people and its disregard for the rule of law and human rights,” he added.

“The imposition of unilateral sanctions against the Iranian nation is an arbitrary and illegal act that contradicts fundamental principles of international law,” Baghaei said.

“The US must be held accountable for the gross human rights violations resulting from these criminal actions.”

Baghaei said Washington’s use of sanctions as a tool for political pressure on developing countries violates fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law.

Such measures, he said, undermine the right to development and in many cases are considered “an example of crime against humanity”.

The new sanctions are the seventh such action taken by the US government against Iran since February 4, when US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum ordering a campaign of maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic.

The sanctions come despite the fact that Iran and the US have held two rounds of talks to settle disputes about Tehran’s nuclear program. The indirect talks started earlier this month in Oman’s capital, Muscat, and continued over the weekend in Italy’s Rome.

Top representatives from Iran and the US are scheduled to meet again on Saturday in Muscat to review technical negotiations between their experts that will start on Wednesday in Rome.

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