Iran Foreign Minister: US Sanctions Are 'Economic Terrorism'

Iran’s foreign minister blasted President Donald Trump’s imposition of sanctions against the country “economic terrorism.”

In an interview with ABC News’ “This Week" aired Sunday, Javad Zarif said U.S. threats against Iran “never work,” and advised: “Try respect, that may work.”

“President Trump has called [sanctions] economic war,” he said. “I call it economic terrorism. And the reason I call it economic terrorism is that it targets ordinary Iranian people.”

Zarif also said Trump’s invitation to Iranian officials to call him isn’t likely to work either.

“Talking is the continuation of the process of pressure,” Zarif argued. “He's imposing pressure, this may work in a real estate market. It does not work in dealing with Iran.”

If the United States imposes further sanctions, Zarif warned "there will be consequences.”

"If the United States decide to cause so much pain on the Iranian people by imposing economic warfare, by engaging in economic terrorism against Iran, then there will be consequences," he said.

"We don't differentiate between economic war and military war," he cautioned. "The U.S. is engaged in war against us, and a war is painful to our participants. We have a very clear notion that in a war, nobody wins. In a war, everybody loses the loss of some will be greater than the loss of others."

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