TEHRAN – Mahmoud Vaezi, the presidential chief of staff, said on Monday that the United States has reached a dead-end in spite of imposing new rounds of anti-Iran sanctions.

“Today, the U.S. has no hope in practice that it can reach its goal and desire via sanctions,” Vaezi said, Mehr reported.

He also said despite all the pressure exerted by Washington, Iran has passed the difficult phase of the sanctions and is currently at a better situation compared to last year.

Tensions started to build up between the U.S. and Iran after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the 2015 deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018. Since quitting the deal, the Trump administration has returned previous sanctions and added new ones in line with the White House’s declared “maximum pressure” campaign against the Islamic Republic. 

The Trump administration has also made empty calls for talks, but the Islamic Republic maintains that as long as the sanctions are in place and the U.S. refuses to return to the JCPOA, negotiations will be meaningless.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that the U.S. enmity against Tehran dates back to a CIA-sponsored coup against the legal government of Iran in 1953, noting that the U.S. in now weaker than that time but more “barbaric and flagrant”.

“The wolfish U.S. has certainly become weaker, but in the meantime, it has become more barbaric and flagrant,” the Leader reiterated, adding, “The Islamic Republic of Iran, in response, has blocked the entire ways on U.S. return and influence via mighty defense and logical rejection of any talks (with the White House).”

Ayatollah Khamenei went on to say that today those who see dialogue with the U.S. as a remedy for problems are seriously mistaken.

“Negotiation with the U.S. is indeed fruitless. Those who consider resumption of talks with the U.S. as the only way out of the country’s problems are one hundred percent wrong. There will be no achievement from talks with the Americans, because they certainly will not give any concession to us.”

MH/PA