Khamenei calls US' maximum pressure policy failure

Tehran, March 21 Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Washington's maximum pressure policy against Tehran has been a failure.

The enemies of Iran, led by the US, sought to bring the Iranian people to their knees, Khamenei said in his Iranian New Year message on Saturday.

However, the Iranian nation stood up, and the failure of the maximum pressure policy was a sign of national capability, Xinhua news agency quoted the Supreme Leader as further saying.

In response to the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018 and the re-imposition of sanctions, Iran has suspended implementing parts of its obligations under the agreement.

The incumbent US administration under President Joe Biden has said that if Iran returns to full compliance with the nuclear deal, Washington would do the same.

But Iran insisted its compliance would only take place once US sanctions were removed.

( With inputs from IANS )