MNA � Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that �Knee on throat� is the US� main policy, but Iranians shattered the US� knee through their unity.







Rouhani stressed at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the health of the people is still our number one priority, and the need for close monitoring by the supervisory bodies, as well as the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and the implementation of medical protocols by the people and business owners and guilds.

Appreciating the efforts of the country's medical and hospital staff in combatting COVID-19 over the past four months, the President said that with the exception of a few provinces that are in red conditions, we have reached the stage of controlling coronavirus in the country, adding, "The resilience of the Iranian people in the simultaneous fight against coronavirus and the severe, illegal US sanctions is well-known today and will be recorded in the history of the country."

Rouhani said, "In the field of coronavirus, due to the reopening that has been done gradually over the past two months, we should naturally be able to deal with the potential dangers of this virus with more caution and self-care.�

The President added, "Today, with the efforts made, we have succeeded in controlling this virus in the country, with the exception of a few provinces, and in these few provinces, double efforts are being made to get out of the red situation and create a good situation.�

Rouhani said that the capability of the Ministry of Health is still much higher than the pressure of this virus in the country, adding, "In the current situation, we are doing other things besides the healthcare reform plan, that is, we are trying to treat patients and find a vaccine for this virus.�

�Also, for the needs of the country in terms of health and treatment, the manufacturing sectors, especially the knowledge-based companies, have made great efforts, and in this regard, we are even exporters in some of our products, and some countries apply to buy health and disinfection facilities from Iran,� added Rouhani.

He said that in fighting coronavirus, people have cooperated from the beginning, adding, "We once again ask people to help us in this regard and I am sure that with people�s help and unity, the rest of the provinces will enter the virus control stage."

In another part of his speech, Rouhani stated that coronavirus is not over yet, addressing the people, "We have no choice but to change our lifestyle, that is, as long as the virus exists, and as long as the world finds a definite vaccine for coronavirus, there is no second way."

�We have no choice but to change our lifestyle until coronavirus completely eradicated, which could take for months,� said the President.

Rouhani added, "The second point that I want to emphasize is that the people are aware that our country has faced unprecedented severe sanctions by the White House rulers since the beginning of year 1397 (early 2018), and unfortunately they forced other countries to cooperate in some cases."

Stating that coronavirus was added to these problems, he said, "We are facing more difficult conditions. Everyone should pay attention to the situation in which we are managing the country."

The President pointed out, "The government has many inaugurations every week, and in this week, on Thursday, 4.8 trillion tomans of industrial and mining plans and projects will be inaugurated. Of course, the inauguration is not for Thursdays only, and every day various projects are inaugurated throughout the country, and this means the vitality and activity in the country despite all these pressures.�

"Under these circumstances, we will do our best for boosting production and opening major projects by the end of the year," the president said.

Referring to the government's efforts to revive Lake Urmia, Rouhani said, "Lake Urmia was the first promise of the government to the people of Azerbaijan and the western part of the country, which was of special environmental importance. In these difficult sanctions, the government will complete 36 kilometres of tunnels to bring water into Lake Urmia.�

Restoring Lake Urmia is largest environmental project in the country's history, said Rouhani, adding, "90 per cent of the dust in Lake Urmia has been controlled during the 11th and early 12th administrations, and 10% will be controlled by the end of this year, and this is the greatest environmental work done in the country's history.�

Emphasizing that the development of e-government should be pursued closely in the current situation, the President said, "We have no choice but to change our lifestyle based on coronavirus outbreak and an important part of this change is the style of doing things and services in cyberspace. In the current situation, we must try to provide people with services through cyberspace.�

Rouhani stated, "The government will mobilize all its facilities for the development of e-government so that the services people need will be provided to them through the cyberspace day by day. This is a very important principle for fighting coronavirus and for a new lifestyle.�

In another part of his speech, Rouhani referred to the criminal actions of the United States, adding, "The US administration was an unreliable government and it became more unreliable in this new administration; a government that violated all international and environmental regulations, UNESCO, and the rights of the oppressed Palestinians, and even violated many of the agreements it had with its friends.�

He added, "The United States has been the worst country in the world in fighting coronavirus to date, and in this regard, it has chosen the worst way and caused the most casualties and problems for its own people, while showing that it does not have the proper management skills to run this big and great country.�

"Such actions in recent weeks have been accompanied by intense violence against their own people, which means that the military and the police are carrying out pressure and killing people at the order of the White House," the president said.

Rouhani stated that the policy of the United States in the past has been the policy of "knee on throat", saying, "Throughout history, these people have put their knees on the throats of every oppressed person they run into to destroy them. This is their policy, not the policy of a police officer in a city, but basically the policy of the entire United States regime.�

Emphasizing that the great nation of Iran has broken this knee and the American policy, the President said, "They wanted to do the same policy in 2018 and brought their knee closer to the throat of the Iranian nation, but the dear nation of Iran beat this knee with the big sledgehammer of national unity and shattered it, and now they no longer have the knees to put pressure on the Iranian nation�s throat.�

Rouhani said that the Americans are still looking for a conspiracy against the Iranian nation, adding, "Since we are approaching a point where all Iran�s arms embargo are being lifted based on Resolution 2231, they are angry and upset about this important day in the history of Iran's defense and intend to prepare a resolution and take it to the Security Council.�

"We expect the four permanent members of the Security Council to stand up to this conspiracy because of the interests and stability of the world and the interests that were predicted in the region and the world by the nuclear deal," he said, adding, "Especially from our two friendly countries, Russia and China, we expect them to stand up to this conspiracy.�

Rouhani emphasized, "We are confident that since all kinds of conspiracies that the United States has hatched against the Iranian nation to date have failed, this conspiracy will not succeed as well, and we will increase our defense capabilities with all our might".

"The Americans need to know that no matter what they do, Iran's defense capabilities will be developed under all circumstances, and we have designed the best air defense systems in difficult conditions under sanctions, and in the recent years that we have been in difficult conditions, we downed the American drone with the same system.�

Addressing the people, Iranian President said, "People should know that the government would make every effort in the economic field to reduce the pressure on them.�