TEHRAN, Jun 25 - Iranian Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand highlighted the failure of Washington’s policy of economic pressures against the Islamic Republic and said the country has numerous options and strategies to counter the US sanctions.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - “As we are in the era of sanctions, the enemy seeks to create disappointment in the (Iranian) society and sow discord between the government and the nation so that it can expose the society to tension,” Dejpasand told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday.
“At the beginning of my tenure at the Ministry of Economy, the wave of the US president's actions against our country had begun, and we had to look for solutions for the transition period with minimal damage,” he added.
“In the current situation, our hands are full of (options) to counter enemy actions…,” the minister went on to say without giving more details about strategies to offset US sanctions.
The remarks came against the backdrop of increased tensions between Iran and the US with Washington imposing new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The US has ratcheted up pressure on Iran since last year after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Since then, the administration of US President Donald Trump is trying to reduce Iran’s oil exports to “zero,” and has sent an aircraft carrier strike group, a bomber squad, an amphibious assault ship, and a Patriot missile battery to the Middle East to try to stack up pressure on Tehran.
Iranian officials, however, have dismissed such moves as psychological warfare, saying the country has its own ways of circumventing the American bans and selling crude oil.
On the first anniversary of the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran announced that it would suspend the implementation of some of its commitments under the deal, announcing that it would stop exporting excess uranium and heavy water, setting a 60-day deadline for the five remaining parties to the deal to take practical measures towards ensuring its interests in the face of the American sanctions.
Source: Tasnim