…As Denmark accuses Iran of plotting attacks on exiled citizens***
U.S. sanctions against Iran will have “severe consequences” for the world order, the Islamic republic said on Tuesday, days before new sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports take effect.
Washington reintroduced sanctions against Iran’s currency trade, metals and auto sectors in August after it pulled out of a multinational 2015 deal that lifted sanctions in return for limits on Iran’s nuclear programme.
A new set of sanctions on Iranian banking and energy sectors are to take effect Nov. 5, as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to cut oil purchases from the Islamic Republic to zero.
“Unfortunately a law-breaking country (the United States) seeks to punish a country (Iran) that is law abiding.
“This method will have severe consequences for the world order,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said during a visit to Istanbul.
“Americans have not achieved their goals by imposing illegal sanctions against Iran,’’ Zarif added.
Tehran says it has complied fully with the nuclear accord and its commitment has been repeatedly confirmed by the UN atomic watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Trump complained that the deal, approved by his predecessor Barack Obama, does not cover Iran’s ballistic missiles, its role in regional wars or what happens after the nuclear pact begins to expire in 2025.
“The world community has stood up to the U.S. sanctions,” Zarif said, after a trilateral meeting between Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan’s foreign ministers.
Meanwhile, the Danish Police on Tuesday accused Iran of planning to carry out attacks on Iranian exiles in the Scandinavian Country.
“In our view, the Iranian intelligence service planned an attack in Denmark,’’ Finn Borch Andersen, the head of the Danish security service PET, told a news conference, saying that the case was “serious’’.
Borch Andersen told reporters that the temporary closure of bridges and the halting of ferry services to neighbouring Germany and Sweden at the end of September were part of the local Danish police’s attempts to foil the plot.
He also said a Norwegian citizen born in Iran was in pre-trial detention.
The suspect, who was arrested by the Swedish security service Sapo, denies any involvement in the plot.
According to PET, Iran plotted to target exiled members of a group called the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz – Iran (ASMLA).
Three members of ASMLA are still under Danish police protection, as the “threats have not been eliminated,’’ the PET chief said.
Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen reacted to PET’s information by tweeting that the allegations were “completely unacceptable’’ and that Denmark would “respond’’.
He also said that Denmark was in talks with European partners.
Tehran has alleged the group was responsible for an attack in September on a parade in the city of Ahvaz, in which at least 25 people were killed and 60 others injured.
