Iranian FM says U.S. cannot expect to 'stay safe'
CGTN
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Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned Monday that those waging "economic war" against Tehran through U.S. sanctions could not expect to "remain safe."
"One cannot expect an economic war to continue against the Iranian people and that those waging this war and those supporting it remain safe," he said at a Tehran news conference with his visiting German counterpart Heiko Maas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his German counterpart Heiko Maas attend a news conference in Tehran, Iran, June 10, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his German counterpart Heiko Maas attend a news conference in Tehran, Iran, June 10, 2019. /Reuters Photo

"Mr. Trump himself has announced that the U.S. has launched an economic war against Iran. The only solution for reducing tensions in this region is stopping that economic war," said zarif.
"Whoever starts a war with us will not be the one who finishes it," he added.
U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran after walking away from a 2015 nuclear between Tehran and world powers that eased sanctions in exchange for curbs on its atomic program. 
The German minister said his country would do its utmost to ensure tensions do not escalate. "There is war in Syria and in Yemen, fortunately not here," Maas said. 
"Tensions here in the region are worrying, and we fear that isolated events could trigger developments that end in violence, and we want to prevent this at all costs."
"The situation in the region here is highly explosive and extremely serious," Maas said. "A dangerous escalation of existing tensions can also lead to military escalation."
"We want to fulfill our obligations," Maas noted. "We cannot work miracles, but we will try to avert a failure" of the nuclear deal.
In an effort to protect at least some of Iran's economy from U.S. sanctions, France, Britain and Germany have set up a special-purpose vehicle called Instex, designed to allow trade payments that would bypass sanctions. It has yet to be launched.
"This is an instrument of a new kind, so it's not straightforward to operationalize it," Maas told reporters. "But all the formal requirements are in place now, and so I'm assuming we'll be ready to use it in the foreseeable future."
(Cover: Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif shakes hands with his German counterpart Heiko Maas after their meeting in Tehran, Iran, June 10, 2019. /Reuters Photo)
(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)