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Hezbollah terror group blasts US’ new Iran sanctions

Members of the terror group that sit in Lebanon’s parliament slammed the United States over new sanctions it imposed on Iran, describing them as ‘unjustified.’

By Associated Press

Representatives of the Lebanon-based Iranian terror proxy Hezbollah said in a statement Thursday that the new American sanctions on Iran show the U.S. administration’s “tyrannical and dictatorial trend.”

Hezbollah, which operates an international narcotics trafficking syndicate and is backed and armed by Iran, has members in Lebanon’s Cabinet and parliament

Hezbollah, which routinely threatens to invade and destroy Israel, has also been hit by U.S. sanctions for years.

The group says that America’s unilateral sanctions do no respect international laws and Washington “behaves in accordance with the law of the jungle.”

It claimed Iran has the power to defend itself.

Earlier in the day, the head of Egypt’s port authority announced that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln had passed through the Suez Canal on its way to the Persian Gulf amid an escalation with Iran.

The state MENA news agency quoted Mohab Mameesh, the Suez Canal authority chief, as saying he observed the passage of the carrier through the canal on Thursday morning.

MENA says the director also met the U.S. defense attache in Cairo, Gen. Ralph Groover, who had traveled to the Suez Canal area to check on the status of the U.S. warship.

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The White House on Sunday dispatched the aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf. On Wednesday, Rouhani threatened Iran could start to enrich its uranium stockpile closer to weapons-grade levels in two months.

Meanwhile, the European Union urged Iran to respect the international agreement curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions and says it aims to continue trading with the country despite U.S. sanctions.

The EU and major European powers — Britain, France and Germany — said on Thursday that they “note with great concern the statement made by Iran concerning its commitments” to the nuclear deal.

They said in a statement that “we remain fully committed to the preservation and full implementation” of the deal, endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.

The Trump administration pulled America out of the deal a year ago.

The EU powers say they “regret the re-imposition of sanctions” by the U.S. and remain “determined to continue pursuing efforts to enable the continuation of legitimate trade with Iran.”