Iran’s Rouhani Says Trump-Era Policy of ‘Maximum Pressure’ Against Tehran ‘Is Over’
Earlier in the week, the Iranian leader boasted that Donald Trump’s probable defeat in the 3 November vote signifies that “the regime that dreamt of the Iranian government’s downfall has itself been overthrown in a very humiliating way.”
The Trump administration’s policy of ‘maximum pressure’ against Tehran has proved ineffective and is coming to an end, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has announced.
“All signs in the US and elsewhere indicate that the world has come to realise that the policy of ‘maximum pressure’ does not work and its era is over,” Rouhani said, speaking at a ceremony dedicated to the opening of new educational institutions and hospitals on Thursday, according to the Tasnim News Agency.
The Iranian people, Rouhani continued, will he hopes soon be able to “enjoy the fruits of their resistance and patience” in the face of US pressure.
#Iranian President Rouhani says era of (#Trump) maximum pressure is over! “The world has learned that maximum pressure campaign (against #Iran) doesn’t work and its era is coming to an end and the Iranian nation will hopefully enjoy the benefits of their resistance and patience. pic.twitter.com/QBMZ72Xs95
— Habib Abdolhossein (@HAbdolhossein) November 12, 2020
“With one another’s help, we will overcome the coronavirus disease, and with national unity, cohesion and revolutionary leadership [of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] we will overcome the sanctions,” he said.
Rouhani’s remarks come less than 24 hours after he accused Trump of pursuing a foreign policy guided by “the Zionist regime” and boasted that the US administration which sought the downfall of the Islamic Republic “has itself been overthrown".
The Iranian president has repeatedly turned the “maximum pressure” rhetoric used by Trump administration officials against them. In September, after Washington failed to convince its allies and other members of the United Nations Security Council to extend the UN arms embargo against Tehran indefinitely, Rouhani quipped that the US’s policy of “maximum pressure” had turned into one of “maximum isolation of the United States".
The Trump administration rolled out its campaign of ‘maximum pressure’ against Iran in 2018, immediately after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, an international treaty which offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for a commitment not to pursue nuclear weapons.
Rouhani recently expressed hope that the administration which follows Trump’s would “use the opportunity to make up for past [US] mistakes". Tehran has also voiced optimism about co-operating with a potential Biden administration, but has also warned that it would not agree to renegotiate the nuclear treaty, as Joe Biden has proposed – and merely allow the US to rejoin it.
The Trump administration slapped Iran with additional sanctions on Tuesday. Earlier, Axios reported that the White House would attempt to “flood” Tehran with new restrictions to make it more difficult for his potential successor to get back into the 2015 nuclear deal.
- Source : Ilya Tsukanov
