Press TV - President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is not the only nation that is bearing the brunt of the economic woes caused by the US pressure campaign.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Rouhani referred to his meetings with world leaders that took place on the sidelines of the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 last week and said, “In a four-way forum, participated by Iran, Malaysia, Turkey and Qatar, we realized that other countries are also experiencing difficulties in their interactions with the US.”
The leader of one of the participating states, President Rouhani recounted, talked about the weapons his country had purchased from the US and the problems they were now facing in procuring spare parts, because the Americans were demanding several times the actual price of those weapons for maintenance services.
The Iranian chief executive also noted that there was consensus among several participants in the Kuala Lumpur Summit on the need for ditching the dollar.
“Cryptocurrency and exchanges of national currencies and gold were among the issues raised at the summit, and the four aforementioned countries agreed to find ways” to promote those mechanisms, Rouhani said.
The problems currently facing the Iranian nation are more or less similar to those the other states are grappling with, he pointed out, stressing that all countries, including those that took part in the Kuala Lumpur Summit, blame the US for the pressure campaign on the Iranian nation.
“Nobody has doubts about the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has completely fulfilled its commitments and taken steps within the framework of regional and global peace, stability and security,” Rouhani said, adding that “It is the opposite side that has violated its obligations.”
He was referring to Tehran’s commitments under a nuclear deal it signed in 2015 with the P5+1 group of states — comprising the United States, the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany.
In May 2018, the US unilaterally withdrew from the deal that had been endorsed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
Since then, the administration of President Donald Trump has unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against Tehran, notably targeting its key oil exports.
Washington’s JCPOA exit and subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran have left the future of the historic agreement in limbo.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani expressed Iran’s readiness to hold talks with the P5+1 countries if they show their resolve to fulfill their commitments and attempt to make up for their past mistakes.
Both Iran and Japan, he emphasized, have put forth proposals in that regard.