The United States is “in many ways” already at war with Iran through its acts of economic terror targeting the country, says an American author and political analyst.

Daniel Kovalik, also a human rights expert and a peace activist, who was speaking to Press TV last Sunday, said the US’s war on Iran was “just in a different form” than actual military action.

“The US is imposing draconian sanctions on Iran…is really engaged in economic terrorism by trying to prevent Iran from selling any of its oil, which is really the lifeblood of the Iranian economy,” he added.

The US began significantly escalating tensions with Iran last year by leaving a multilateral nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic and other countries and returning the sanctions that had been lifted by the deal. The sanctions, include an intended zero-tolerance ban targeting Iran’s oil exports.

In broaching “economic terrorism,” Kovalik was repeating a term used by Iranian authorities, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who have underlined that the sanctions are not the US’s alternative for war, but amount to actual warfare themselves.

Washington has also engaged in alarming military buildup in the region. It has, however, occasionally distanced itself from an intention to attack the Islamic Republic, and claimed it would talk to the country without any preconditions.

Kovalik, however, said, “It’s clear that the US doesn’t really want negotiation with Iran. What it more wants to do is bullying Iran and weaken Iran. It would want regime change ideally.”

Iranian officials have, themselves, noted on numerous occasions that the economic pressure and the purported offer of negotiation are mutually exclusive.

The analyst finally supported Iran’s right to fend for itself in the face of the hostility and try to counter the economic bans.

“Any country in Iran’s position, including if the US were in Iran’s position, would defend itself,” he noted.