Iran criticizes new Western sanctions

In the Middle East, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanani on September 15 criticized new Western sanctions against individuals and entities of the Islamic Republic as “illegal.”

Earlier the same day, the US, UK and European Union (EU) announced new sanctions against Iran.

Iran's Foreign Ministry representative accused the West of "acting illegally and undiplomatically" by imposing sanctions and showing wrongful support for interfering in protests in Tehran.

Mr. Kanani also criticized European diplomats for engaging in “unconstructive behavior” that “does not serve their interests.”

The latest US sanctions target 25 Iranian officials, three media outlets and an Internet censorship company, accused of supporting the government's crackdown on protesters.

Most of the individuals are commanders of Iran's police and military forces. Meanwhile, the UK and the EU also imposed sanctions on a number of senior Iranian officials in the Ministry of Culture, Tehran city government, police, military, and prison authorities.

France, Germany and Britain also previously announced that they would not lift certain sanctions on Iran due to its alleged “non-compliance” with the 2015 nuclear deal signed with world powers.

The nuclear deal places tough limits on Iran's nuclear energy program - including limits on the amount of enriched uranium it can store at any one time.

Meanwhile, other signatories also agreed to various commitments, mainly easing sanctions against Tehran.

However, Iranian officials insist they are no longer bound by those rules because the United States unilaterally abandoned the deal in 2018, when then-President Donald Trump reimposed all previous sanctions on Tehran and expanded them, violating America's core commitment to the nuclear deal with Iran.