ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran on Friday condemned new United States sanctions targeting its drone program. A foreign ministry spokesperson said the measures, imposed days after Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator indicated Iran was ready to resume stalled nuclear talks, show Washington was “not trustworthy.” The “imposition of new sanctions on the Islamic Republic shows a contradictory behavior on the part of the White House,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh. “A government that talks of returning to the nuclear deal but follows the footsteps of former US president Donald Trump sends the message that it is not trustworthy.” The US Treasury on Friday announced sanctions targeting Iran’s drone program which it said has been used to attack American forces, their partners, and international shipping across the region, including in Iraq and Syria where Iranian-backed militias are widely believed to be behind at least 12 drone attacks or threats of attack on US interests in the past year. The militias demand the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. Khatibzadeh said the new sanctions will not deter Iran and its “determination… to defend its honorable people’s security and peace.” Under Trump, the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord and imposed a raft of sanctions in an effort to force Tehran to renegotiate a broader deal. The campaign failed as Iran expanded its nuclear program and is now enriching uranium at levels far beyond limits set in the accord. US President Joe Biden wants to return to the deal. Talks to bring the US back on board, lifting sanctions, and Iran back into full compliance with its nuclear commitments were suspended in June to allow for a new government to be inaugurated in Iran. Tehran, under diplomatic pressure to resume talks, has indicated it is ready to do so by the end of November. The US has criticized Iran’s delays in agreeing to return to the talks in Vienna. “Every day that goes by is another day that Iran is in a position to advance its nuclear program in ways that are concerning,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on October 26. “We’re not putting a specific timeframe on it, but we are making the point that this is not a process that can go on indefinitely.”
