ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei slammed new US sanctions on Iran on Thursday, dubbing them “economic terrorism” and warning that Washington will bear the consequences of its “contradictory behavior and provocative statements.”

The US State Department released a statement on Thursday saying that it would be imposing sanctions on seven entities accused of trading Iranian oil, with the companies in question operating out of Iran, the UAE, and Turkey.

Iran, which has been overwhelmed by US sanctions for decades as part of a relentless economic pressure campaign by Washington, lashed out at the new measures, with Baqaei calling them “a clear sign of American policymakers' insistence on breaking the law and violating the rights and interests of other countries, as well as their efforts to disrupt friendly and legal relations between developing countries through economic terrorism.”

Baqaei continued, “The responsibility for the consequences and destructive effects resulting from America's contradictory behavior and provocative statements will lie with the American side.”

The new sanctions levied against Iranian oil trading come ahead of the fourth round of nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington this Saturday in Rome.

Both sides have displayed tentative optimism about the prospect of reaching an accord, though the new sanctions could complicate matters, with Iranian Foreign Minister and chief negotiator Abbas Araghchi previously having criticized the US for their “shifting” and “contradictory” policy statements.

Iran and the US previously signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015, a landmark agreement that saw Tehran receive relief from international sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. However, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, implementing a “maximum pressure” campaign consisting of rigorous sanctions and military action against Iranian proxies.

According to the UN nuclear watchdog, Iran currently holds over 8,000 kilograms of enriched uranium, of which 274.8 kilograms is at 60 percent purity—far surpassing the JCPOA's limits. Still, Tehran insists that those nuclear activities are peaceful and that it has no intention of pursuing a weapons program.

Tehran also argues that its high-level enrichment is a direct response to the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018, viewing its growing stockpile as strategic leverage in negotiations relating to sanctions relief.