“The surge in hostile comments and desperate measures and, most ridiculously, the (recent) reward offered for treason and espionage, are out of disappointment and frustration and aimed at affecting the Iranian nation,” Mousavi said in a statement late on Wednesday.
He added that such measures will not get anywhere and will only add “dark pages” to the history of the US’ conspiracies against Iranians.
The spokesman went on to say that the US officials will definitely be held accountable for their actions someday.
The spokesman’s remarks came after the US State Department announced a reward of up to $15 million for any person who helps Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, which includes zeroing out Iran’s oil sales.
The reward was declared by Brian Hook, who made a series of allegations against Iran and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) during a press conference on Wednesday.
Hook also announced new sanctions against what he called a “shipping network”, including 11 vessels and 25 entities and individuals involved in Iran’s oil trade.
On Friday, the US blacklisted the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as Grace 1, and sanctioned its captain, according to the US Treasury Department.
A report by The Financial Times revealed Wednesday that four days before the US imposed sanctions on the tanker, the vessel’s Indian captain received an unusual email from Hook.
According to several emails seen by the Financial Times, Hook wrote to Akhilesh Kumar on August 26 that the Trump administration was offering him several million dollars to pilot the ship to a country that would impound the vessel on behalf of the US. To make sure the captain did not mistake the email for a scam, it included an official state department phone number.
Hook has emailed or texted roughly a dozen captains in recent months in an effort to scare mariners into understanding that helping Iran evade sanctions comes at a heavy price, the report added.
