President Rouhani:

US Maximum Pressure Sure to Fail

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reassured on Monday that Washington’s maximum pressure campaign against his country will undoubtedly fail, adding that American officials themselves have realized that the US anti-Tehran policies will not bend the will of the Iranian nation.

News ID: 448222

Date: 31 December 2019 - 11:36

RNA - While visiting an exhibition of petrochemical industry achievements this morning at a ceremony marking the national Petrochemical Industry Day, President Rouhani said the era of sanctions and pressure against the Iranian nation will come to an end as enemies have realized that their efforts have been futile.

“Here I will say frankly that the era of sanctions and pressure on the Iranian people will come to an end because our enemies have realized that they cannot force us into surrender with their ‘maximum pressure’ campaign,” the president said.

He went on to add, “Their sole objective was to force us to sit at a negotiating table where we had no other choice but to accept all of their terms. This is impossible for our Islamic Iran.”

Rouhani then addressed domestic criticism at his government’s failure to live up to a number of its promises, saying “We made those promises during a period of peace, but then we were forced into a war that we didn’t choose and we didn’t start.”

“They started a full-out economic war against us," he said, in reference to the US' sanctions on Iran. "They wanted to make it a political war by trying to rally the whole world against us, but they failed at that. They also wanted to make it a 'legal war', by pressuring the United Nations and other international organizations to condemn us; they failed at that, too,” Rouhani said.

Elsewhere, the president hailed the efforts of all managers, entrepreneurs and those active in the petrochemical sector, saying, "our petrochemical industry’s current income is roughly $17 billion, which will increase to $25 billion in two years, and then to $37 billion by the end of the third step."

“The upward trend of growth indices and figures show that despite the tough economic sanctions, the enemies have been unsuccessful in advancing their goals with the hard work of the forerunners of the economy front with people’s support and presence," he added.

Last Monday, President Hassan Rouhani stressed inefficiency of Washington's maximum-pressure policy, and further said the US sanctions against Iran fade away.

"Certainly, the present circumstances will end and the US will sooner or later be forced to relinquish maximum pressure against Iran before or after the presidential election in the US," Rouhani said in a meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Tehran.

According to Fars News Agency, he added that under the current conditions that the US has imposed unilateral sanctions against other countries, Iran and India should endeavor to protect their ties and cooperation intact and unaffected.

"Iran is after decreasing tensions and establishing and maintaining sustainable security in the region, specially the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman," Rouhani said.

847/940