PressTV Interview with Peter Koenig
Transcript
Background
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the new US sanctions against Tehran show that Washington has targeted ordinary people.
Rouhani said the US has spared no effort to mount pressure on Iran through what he called wrong sanctions. He noted that Washington, however, failed in its campaign to bring Iranian oil sales to zero as it had to give waivers to Iran’s major customers. He also slammed the US for waging a psychological war against Iran, saying Washington will soon understand that it has taken a wrong path.
PressTV: What is your take on this?
Peter Koenig: As I said on previous occasions, these and all other US sanctions, interfering in other countries’ sovereign affairs are totally illegal – by any standards of international law.
What is amazing is that this crime, which Washington inflicts with impunity to every nation that refuses to follow its dictate, this crime has grown to become a “normality” and the rest of the western civilization simply accepts it –- well, “civilization” – if we can still consider ourselves a “civilization”.
Having said this, these sanctions are actually toothless. They are ineffective, as Iran will keep selling oil and gas to petrol companies and honor their long-term government contracts. Of course, there are countries afraid of being “sanctioned’ by the United States if they continue dealing with Iran. But by and large, they are few and fewer,…