China calls US ‘empire of sanctions,’ laments economic losses inflicted on Iran
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian has highlighted the economic losses incurred by Iran due to the United States’ unilateral sanctions, condemning Washington for its unilateral policies.
“The US is an empire of sanctions,” Zhao wrote in a post on his official Twitter account, attaching an image that referred to $200 billion in economic losses incurred by Iran due to the American sanctions.
The former government had announced that US-imposed sanctions have cost Iran at least 200 billion dollars in less than 2 years; 100 billion for lost crude oil revenues and 100 billion of investment money.
The Chinese spokesperson’s comment came nearly a month after he voiced Beijing’s strong opposition to Washington’s “illegal” and “unjustifiable” sanctions as well as its so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
Back then, Zhao had urged the US to abandon the “wrong practice of resorting to sanctions at every turn” and instead “contribute positively” to negotiations on resuming compliance with the JCPOA, commonly known as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
“China has always been firmly opposed to illegal, unjustifiable, and unilateral sanctions and so-called long-arm jurisdiction by the US,” he told a press conference in Beijing on July 7.
“The international community, including China, has conducted normal cooperation with Iran within the framework of international law. This is reasonable and lawful without harm done to any third party and deserves to be respected and protected,” he added.
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