Iran’s Rouhani says US has ‘failed to stop oil exports’

President vows his country will not yield to Washington’s ‘psychological war’

By ToI Staff and AP 19 November 2018, 2:58 pm

Edit

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a press conference in New York on September 26, 2018, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. (AFP PHOTO / Jim WATSON)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Monday that US sanctions would not prevent his country from exporting oil and that Iran would not give in to pressure from Washington.

“America blames us for its failures in the region,” Rouhani said during a speech in the city of Khoy that was broadcast live on television. “We will not yield to this pressure that is part of the psychological war against Iran.”

“They have failed to stop our oil exports,” he said of US sanctions, according to Reuters. “We will keep exporting it.”

US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May. United Nations monitors say Iran still abides by the deal, in which it agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in return for the lifting of international sanctions.

Since then, Trump announced what he billed as the “toughest ever” sanctions against Iran, and the country has seen its oil exports plunge and its currency lose more than half its value. The full brunt of the measures came into effect November 5 when the US re-imposed oil and banking sanctions.