President Speaking at Cabinet Session (Excerpts)

February 19, 2020

Weapon Program: 

  • Nuclear

Related Country: 

  • United States

[...]

The other issue is breaking Iran’s boycott and sanctions, which is the most important responsibility for all of us. Sanctions are a terrorist act by the United States against the Iranian nation and nobody can say that sanctions have no effect. Saying that sanctions do not have any effects means supporting the US.

If one says sanctions do not work, it means they are supporting the US and says America has done nothing wrong and has done a good job, and that sanctions have no impact on our lives.

This is both false and untrue, and it is in support of America. Unless we know the pain, we cannot know the treatment. For example, if someone's hand hurts, we cannot treat his foot. We need to know where the pain is and treat it there.

Sanctions are America’s terrorist act against the great Iranian nation. Now, a group is ruling the country that had hostilities towards Iran from the past. The Israelis and the region's reactionaries supported them and put this pressure on the Iranian people. What should we do to counter this pressure?

To say that we cannot break the sanctions is incorrect. How could we break the sanctions in 2013 and 2015? The fact that our oil exports rose to almost 3 million barrels from 900k was because we broke the sanctions.

We managed to get credit with all the big eastern and western banks and in one case, we got $5 billion from one country, and all companies were lined up to invest in Iran.

The fact that the UN sanctions were lifted, that our great problem with the IAEA was resolved and today, despite all US efforts, they are still incapable before the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The fact that an international court is votes against the United States and tells the US that their sanctions are illegal indicates that the deal is still alive. The fact that the United States is doing its utmost in the Board of Governors to condemn us but cannot do anything means that the agreement is still alive.

The fact that they are already afraid of what the situation will be months later means the deal is alive. The fact that the United States failed to act politically and legally in the United Nations, the General Assembly, and the Security Council after it withdrew from the agreement, and that they failed in the Board of Governors, shows that our nation has the potential to do this.

So we have broken the sanctions once and if we did not do anything, one would say we are unable to counteract a mistake that the US has made, but of course, we can make the US regret about their mistake. Once, we took them to the negotiation table despite their wish and they signed the document that they did not want. We have to do this again.

How should we take them to the negotiation table? We have to exercise unity and power. We must prove to the Americans that we are powerful and capable. We have to show them that we are a nation that has the highest patience.

If we exercise the utmost patience, the Americans have no choice but to surrender. The fact that the US has sent dozens of messages to us for negotiation in the past one year, and that we have no doubt that when I was in New York, I received at least 5-6 messages for negotiation with the US, means the we are powerful and patient.

If the Americans claim that Iran has failed, they why are they insisting this much on negotiating? Why are you sending messages with world leaders?

It is clear that our people have the power to break the sanctions. Our unity, integrity and production are clear in the field of industry and agriculture, which show marvellous figures.

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