Washington is seeking a new nuclear deal, and Tehran has refused

The US envoy to Iran, Brian Hook, confirmed that his country will continue to work to pressure the Iranian government, and that it will work to reach a new nuclear agreement, while Tehran replied that this is out of the question.

Speaking to reporters at the US State Department, Hook said that Iran had violated the nuclear agreement five times, and that it had pursued an aggressive expansionist policy for forty years, and "only President Donald Trump stood in its way."

He said that the period of validity of the agreement will expire next October, adding that "reaching a new nuclear agreement will deter Iran from its expansionary policies."

Commenting on Hooke's words, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that his country "will not negotiate a new nuclear agreement under any circumstance, which is out of the question", but he expressed Tehran's readiness for dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf countries.

sanctions
In another context, Hook announced the imposition of sanctions on an Iranian military official for his role in the grave violations of human rights suffered by demonstrators during protests in Tehran and other Iranian cities last November.

Hook said that the dean of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hassan Shafarbor, will be subject to the visa ban, noting that this is the first thing that will be taken against the Iranian military official under a specific sanctions authority.

According to Hook, the State Department relied in its decision on the information it obtained from the Iranian messages about the demonstrations, pointing out that the ministry had received more than 88 thousand messages.

And US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had earlier called on demonstrators in Iran to document regime violations in protests in the country last November, through social media, and to send messages to the State Department.

It is noteworthy that Tehran and several Iranian cities witnessed widespread protests at the time, against the backdrop of the government's decision to increase fuel prices.

According to the US administration, Iranian security forces have killed hundreds of demonstrators and arrested hundreds as well, but Tehran has spoken of the deaths of a few during those protests, including members of the security forces, and accused external forces of funding and instigating those protests.