'Compulsive addiction to sanctions': Iran accuses US of being 'incapable' of pursuing diplomacy

Tehran: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei on Tuesday criticised the US administration over its sanctions policy, accusing Washington of being "addicted" to economic restrictions after US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent reportedly claimed that sanctions were "suffocating" Iran.

In a post on X, Baqaei said the repeated use of sanctions reflected the United States' inability to pursue diplomacy.

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"The US Secretary of the Treasury has boasted of 'suffocating' Iran through economic sanctions. Beyond its sheer pathos, the claim is a stark testament to America's compulsive addiction to sanctions", Baqaei said.

He further alleged that whenever Washington fails to achieve its objectives through diplomacy, it turns to sanctions and increases their intensity when they do not yield results.

"Whenever Washington proves itself incapable of pursuing diplomacy, it retreats into sanctions; and whenever those sanctions fail to produce results, it simply increases the dose. This is no longer 'policy'--it is 'habit'; and more dangerously still, it is an addiction that has displaced thought itself," Baqaei said.

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"Iran has demonstrated over decades that it will not be strangled by these exhausted refrains. The real risk is that American politicians, clinging to this bad habit, will instead strangle their own remaining chances of a less humiliating exit from a crisis of their own making," he added.

Baqaei's remarks come as the US continues to rely on unilateral sanctions against Iran after previous measures failed to secure the desired political concessions from Tehran.

Earlier on August 7, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X that Iran relies on digital assets and shadow banking networks.

"The Iranian regime's reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that Economic Fury is working. We will continue to increase the economic pressure. Whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat," Bessent said.