He made the remarks in an address to the 18th Session of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers in the Turkish city of Antalya on Saturday.

Zarif said that the recent negative outlook for the world economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is because of "unilateralism and growing trade barriers and sanctions."
He also underlined the need for enhancing "commercial multilateralism" in the face of punitive measures that damage the global economy.

"Unilateral trade actions, retaliatory measures and economic sanctions could disrupt the global economy and undermine broader multilateral cooperation at a time when it is urgently needed. Under these circumstances, it is now more than ever necessary for us to enhance and strengthen economic and commercial multilateralism, including through frameworks such as the D-8," he said.

"In general, D-8 member states need to join the large block of nations, who stand up against unilateralism and, in particular, refuse to give effect to any irresponsible and illegal acts, including criminal sanctions against my country," he added.

D-8 is an organization promoting development cooperation among member states including Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey and Bangladesh.

Under the administration of President Donald Trump, the US has taken an increasingly hostile approach toward Iran. 
  Back in May, Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite objections from other signatories of the accord.

In August, he re-imposed the first round of sanctions on Iran, with the second phase due to come into effect on November 5. 

Besides re-imposing anti-Iran sanctions, the Trump administration has also been seeking to discourage companies from doing business with Iran by threatening them with penalties.

In a joint statement on Friday, France, Germany, Britain, and the European Union condemned Washington’s anti-Iran sanctions, vowing to protect European firms doing business with Tehran.

/SR