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Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani vowed Wednesday to take
“any opportunity” to lift US sanctions against Tehran, following
President Donald Trump’s defeat by Democratic election rival Joe
Biden.
While the outgoing Trump has declared Iran an arch-foe and
sought to isolate it globally, president-elect Biden has proposed
to offer Iran a “credible path back to diplomacy”.
“Our aim is to lift the pressure of sanctions from the shoulders
of our people,” Rouhani said in televised remarks during a weekly
cabinet meeting.
“Wherever this favourable opportunity arises we will act on our
responsibilities. No one should miss any opportunity.”
“National security and national interests are not factional and
partisan issues,” Rouhani added after conservatives blasted his
reformist and moderate coalition for its “over-excitement” for
re-engagement with the Islamic republic’s nemesis.
Decades-old tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated
after Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a landmark Iran
nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed, then reinforced, crippling
sanctions.
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Those moves torpedoed the deal, Rouhani’s signature foreign
policy achievement, and bolstered conservatives who argue that the
US cannot be trusted.
The measures have all but deprived Iran of vital oil revenues
and isolated its banks, triggering a harsh recession and slashing
the value of the rial.
Rouhani acknowledged Biden’s conciliatory remarks during his
campaign but said Tehran was prepared for sanctions to remain in
place.
“They can choose a new path. And if they do not want to, it is
their choice,” he told the cabinet.
He noted that his administration had devised its policies on the
assumption Trump would stay in office.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last week that
the result of the US election would have “no effect” on Tehran’s
policies towards Washington.
-AFP
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