Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami underlined Iran's firm opposition to sit to the negotiating table with Washington, saying that the policy of sanctions has failed against his country. RNA - "We will never come to the negotiations scene as we are more powerful than any other time, and the enemy has witnessed our will, power, progress, words which came into practice, a practice which relies on faith," General Salami said, addressing a gathering in the Northeastern city of Mashhad on Saturday.
He said that Iran should pursue the policy of defusing the impacts of sanctions as the US has no intention and Europe is not able to remove the sanctions, and added, "Actually, the sanctions are an opportunity."
"We have left behind the difficulties of sanctions and have learned how to live without allowing them to affect us. Today the enemy has reached a level of saturation of sanctions against us and it has no more power," General Salami said.
In relevant remarks in July, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also blasted the US for continuing its hostilities against Iran, and said that the Islamic Republic would not sit at the negotiating table with the American terrorists.
“The US hostile measures against Iran are economic terrorism and Tehran will in no way hold talks with terrorists,” Zarif said, addressing a meeting in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.
“The US measures constitute economic terrorism. Plain and simple. There is no ambiguity about this. Just search the word terrorism,” the Iranian foreign minister added.
According to Fars News Agancy, he said that terrorism by definition is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, specially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims, adding, “This is Google’s definition of terrorism.”
Zarif went on to say that stop using the word “sanction”. “Sanctions are designed to enforce laws. They are backed by the law, but the US measures are economic terrorism.”
The Iranian foreign minister reiterated that what the United States is currently doing should be called “terrorism”.
He called for boycotting the unlawful use of the word ‘sanction’, “specially the US excessive use of this word to show that its measures are lawful. We need to constantly repeat that what the US administration is doing is economic terrorism. We don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
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