TEHRAN

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Monday said U.S. sanctions will not force Tehran to engage in negotiations with Washington. 

Speaking in an interview with ABC News and cited by Iranian media, Zarif said Iran will not be intimidated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s "art of the deal pressure".

"I've said it before, threats against Iran never work," he said. "Never threaten an Iranian. Try respect, that may work."

Labeling new U.S. sanctions as "economic terrorism," Zarif said the sanctions are targeting nothing but "the ordinary Iranian people".

"He [Trump] will not achieve his policy objectives through pressure on the Iranians,” he said.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was ready to negotiate with Iran with "no pre-conditions".

On May 29, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested that negotiations with the U.S. were possible “provided the U.S. lifts the sanctions and fulfills its commitments."

Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have mounted steadily since 2017, when Trump withdrew his country from a landmark nuclear agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 group of nations (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany).

Since then, the Trump administration has also re-imposed sanctions on Iran’s banking and energy sectors, while Iran has threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz to U.S. oil shipments.

* Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg