TEHRAN — The Foreign Ministry has warned that Iran will respond decisively to any measure against its national sovereignty, saying Washington “is standing on the wrong side of history.” 

“Any action that violates Iran’s sovereignty and international law will be responded to seriously and without any hesitation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Sunday at a press conference.

“We tell the Americans to stop their sea, air and land robberies, because the era of robberies is over,” he said, according to Mehr.

Khatibzadeh also said Washington is experiencing its most bitter moments due to their defeat on the world stage.

Pointing to the United States’ push to reimpose all UN sanctions on Iran, he said Washington is well aware that its claim of returning UN sanctions against Iran is “empty, unreal, and ineffective.”

“The U.S. is standing on the wrong side of history, and it has forgotten its duties,” the spokesman said, adding, “Tehran’s message to Washington is that they should return to the international community and their own commitment, and the world will accept them if they abandon insurrection and false claims.”

He said the United States should have received the world’s message which said the world is changing.

“The U.S. will be the first victim of this change because of the short-sighted policies of [Donald] Trump and his circle,” he added.

U.S. measures have only led to insecurity, war, and de-stabilization and their recent measure is also another resurrection added to their previous long list of hostile actions, Khatibzadeh said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Saturday that the UN sanctions against Iran were back in effect under the so-called “snapback” mechanism inside the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

13 of the UN Security Council’s 15-members have already refused to commit to Washington’s unilateral move, reminding Washington that it forfeited all legal authority to trigger the snapback when it left the deal in 2018.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday that “uncertainty” prevented him from taking any action on the U.S. declaration.

MH/PA