Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was both defiant and belligerent in the face of new U.S. sanctions in remarks aired by Iranian state television on Monday.
Rouhani compared U.S. President Donald Trump to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, declared Iran faces a “war situation,” and vowed to “proudly bypass” the American sanctions that went into effect on November 5.
“I announce that we will proudly bypass your illegal, unjust sanctions because it’s against international regulations,” Rouhani said to the United States on Monday, speaking at a televised meeting with Iranian economists.
“We are in the war situation,” he said to Iranians. “We are in a situation of economic war, confronting a bullying power.”
This declaration was accompanied by television footage of a massive air-defense drill conducted across northern Iran on Monday and scheduled to conclude on Tuesday. The drill included units from both the national army, which reports to the secular government, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is loyal to the ayatollahs.
“Yesterday, Saddam was in front of us. Today Trump is in front of us. There is no difference. We must resist and win,” said Rouhani, alluding to the long and bitter war Iran fought against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in the 1980s.
He claimed Trump administration officials “score on top of the lawlessness rankings” and comprised the most “racist” group he could recall “assuming power at the White House.”
Rouhani promised to “break” U.S. sanctions with the help of Europe, which he portrayed as firmly on the side of Tehran.
“Today, we are not the only ones who are angry at U.S. policies. Even European businesses and governments are angered by U.S. policies, too,” he claimed, adding that European leaders have privately told him they hope for “the life of this incumbent administration in the U.S. to become shorter and shorter.”
“Just look at how many countries support the U.S. move and how many don’t. The fact America insists on something and the entire European Union resists that same thing is nothing simple. That means victory for diplomacy and foreign policy,” Rouhani declared.
The Iranian president claimed the “leaders of four major countries” approached him at the U.N. General Assembly in September and offered to arrange a meeting with President Trump. Rouhani said he refused the offer because the current U.S. administration is untrustworthy.
“Honor your obligations first! We will speak then,” he told the United States on Monday. “We have no problem with talking. If our interlocutor honors its words and promises, what will be wrong with talking?”
Rouhani said the waivers granted by the United States to nearly all of Iran’s top oil customers were a signal of “defeat” from the Trump administration. “Even assuming they did not concede defeat and did not grant waivers to countries, we would still be able to sell our oil because we have adequate capabilities to do that,” he boasted.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday addressed criticism from U.S. conservatives that waivers were granted to so many of Iran’s oil customers that the new sanctions have been largely nullified.
“The sanctions that will be reimposed tomorrow are the toughest sanctions ever put in place on the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Pompeo insisted on Fox News Sunday. “They’re aimed at a singular purpose: denying the world’s largest state sponsor of terror the capacity to do things like they did this past couple weeks, attempt an assassination campaign in the heart of Europe.”
“These sanctions have already had an enormous impact. We’ve already reduced Iranian crude oil exports by over a million barrels per day. That number will fall farther,” he predicted.
Pompeo would not firmly state whether Iran’s two biggest customers, India and China, have committed to dramatically reduce oil purchases during the waiver period.
“Watch what we do. Watch as we’ve already taken more crude oil off the market than any time in previous history. Watch the efforts that President Trump’s policies have achieved,” he said.
Pompeo announced on Monday that waivers were granted to China, India, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Japan, and Taiwan. China, India, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, and Japan are the top six importers of Iranian oil. Oil prices rose slightly on Monday as the sanctions kicked in, but the increase in price was clearly muted by the generous waivers.
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