Iranian FM : Sanctions ‘an end in themselves’ for the US

TEHRAN, Sep. 20 (MNA) – Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif told a US think-tank sanctions have been an end in themselves for the US. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused Washington of being obsessed with sanctions as a new round of high-stakes bilateral nuclear negotiations opened in New York. "We are committed to resolving this issue, but part of the problem blocking a deal was the US eagerness to continue sanctions," foreign minister asserted. "This deal would require the United States to lift the sanctions, and the reason Congress is objecting to this is that it wants to keep these sanctions," Zarif mentioned. "Sanctions have become an end in themselves. Sanctions do not serve any purpose," he added.