Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said blacklisting new entities by US over Iran sanctions is a very wrong move.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said blacklisting new entities by US over Iran sanctions is a very wrong move.

The US Departments of Treasury and State on December 12 issued new sanctions against a number of companies and individuals for “providing support for” Iran’s nuclear program.

“That was a very wrong move,” said  Zarif in an interview with CBS News published on Sunday.

“We are committed to the plan of action and the implementation of [the] Geneva [deal] - but we believe it takes two to tango,” the Iranian foreign minister added.

According to the November 24 deal between Iran and the P5+1 group – Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany - no new sanctions should be imposed against the Islamic Republic in the course of six months.

Under the Geneva deal, the P5+1 has undertaken to lift some of the existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during six months.

The interim agreement is aimed at paving the way for the full resolution of the dispute between the West and Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

“The process has been derailed, the process has not died,” Zarif noted.

“We are trying to put it back [on track] and to correct the path, and continue the negotiations because I believe there is a lot at stake for everybody.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham criticized the sanctions on December 13 as “unconstructive, repetitive and useless,” saying that the US administration is fully responsible for the consequences of such indiscreet measures.