TEHRAN -- Iran strongly denounced new U.S. sanctions targeting dozens of brokers, tanker operators, and shipping companies for their role in selling and transporting Iranian petroleum.
“The decision about economic and commercial interactions with countries is part of the legal right of nations to self-determination, and no party has the right to use political excuses to obstruct or disrupt their commercial and economic relations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tuesday night.
The U.S. Treasury and State Department on Monday sanctioned more than 30 people and ships, including the heads of Iran’s National Iranian Oil Comany, and the Iranian Oil Terminals Company, for their role in brokering the sale and transportation of Iranian oil. 
It was the second round of sanctions imposed on Iranian oil sales since U.S. President Donald Trump issued the so-called National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, which purportedly seeks to bring Iran’s crude exports to zero.
Baghaei said, “The imposition of new sanctions by the U.S. against Iran’s foreign trade is contrary to the principles of the United Nations Charter, especially the principle of respect for national sovereignty and self-determination of nations, as well as against international laws governing free trade among countries.
“Therefore it is considered a violation, unjustified, illegitimate and a violation of the human rights of the Iranian people, and requires the international accountability of the American government,” he said.
Baghaei pointed to assertions by some U.S. officials about their willingness to engage in talks with Iran, describing the new sanctions as the strongest evidence of their insincerity and “hostility to the well-being, development and happiness of the great Iranian people”.
“The Iranian nation – fully aware of the United States’ long history of hostile and interventionist policies as well as its repeated breaches of commitments toward Iran – will continue on its path toward progress, dignity, and independence,” Baghaei stated.
Iran has long been subjected to Western sanctions over its nuclear activities and other pretexts.