TEHRAN — Tehran says it shatters the United States’ maximum pressure campaign with maximum resistance and relying on domestic capabilities.

We do shatter your max pressure campaign w/max resistance,stiffening resolve & reliance on the national capabilities. It is you who face a choice: either admit defeat & start respecting the Iranian Nation or further keep being hated,humiliating & isolating yourselves.#BrianHook

— S.A MOUSAVI (@SAMOUSAVI9) May 28, 2020

“We do shatter your max pressure campaign w/max resistance,stiffening resolve & reliance on the national capabilities,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi tweeted on Thursday night.

“It is you who face a choice: either admit defeat & start respecting the Iranian Nation or further keep being hated,humiliating & isolating yourselves,” Mousavi added.

The tweet came in response to earlier threatening remarks by Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran.

Hook on Wednesday said maximum economic pressure on Iran would prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“Because of our pressure, Iranian leaders have come to a decision: either negotiate with us or manage the economic collapse,” he told reporters at a State Department special briefing.

“We are taking these actions now because the regime continues to use its nuclear program to extort the international community,” Hook said, adding, “The Iranian regime’s threats are designed to intimidate nations into accepting Iran’s usual violent behavior for fear of something worse. We refuse to play by Iran’s rules.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also announced his decision to end the sanctions waiver covering all remaining nuclear projects originating from the nuclear agreement with world powers.

“Today, I am ending the sanctions waiver for JCPOA-related projects in Iran, effective in 60 days,” he wrote in his Twitter page on Thursday. “Iran’s continued nuclear escalation makes clear this cooperation must end. Further attempts at nuclear extortion will only bring greater pressure on the regime.”

U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally quit the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and introduced the harshest ever sanctions in history on Iran as part of his administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran.

Under the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran had agreed to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions.

The agreement, endorsed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, was signed between Iran, the United States, Britain, Germany, France, the European Union, Russia, and China.

On May 8, 2019, exactly one year after the U.S. abandoned the deal, Tehran began to partially reduce its commitments to the agreement at bi-monthly intervals.

Finally, on January 5 of this year, Iran issued a statement announcing suspension of all limits under the JCPOA.

MH/PA