Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance says the country is not afraid of a potential new round of “maximum pressure” under US President Donald Trump, saying plans are in place to cope with any eventualities.

According to The Iran Project, In a long interview with Iran’s state TV late on Monday, Abdonnasser Hemmati said that Iran once experienced tough economic conditions and learned how to deal with it when Trump was US president for a first term from 2016 to 2020.  

“For a period in 2020, our oil revenues fell to $7-8 billion and the coronavirus complicated the problems ... but we managed to run the country and the Americans failed to achieve what they had promised,” said Hemmati, who served as Iran’s top banker between 2018 and 2021.

“After the maximum pressure campaign (was implemented) in Trump’s first administration, the next US administration admitted that the maximum pressure had been defeated. This is their own admission,” he said.

The comments came hours after Trump was sworn in as US president more than two months after winning one of the most divisive presidential elections in US history.

Trump has not indicated that he is going to repeat his previous policies on Iran. However, he has picked figures as aides or future ministers who are known for their hawkish anti-Iran stances.

Hemmati said Iran is prepared for a potential new round of maximum pressure under Trump although he suggested that the Americans might adopt a more pragmatic approach toward Iran in the next four years.

“We hope they think more reasonably and take (preemptive) measures to stop things from escalating. However, we are not afraid of Trump’s arrival and we have plans for such circumstances,” said the minister.