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(Reuters) – Iran will continue to export oil despite US sanctions, part of a failed psychological war, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday.
PHOTO BY FILE: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will speak on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, USA, September 26, 2018. REUTERS / Brendan Mcdermid / File Photo
Reimposing sanctions on OPEC's third largest oil producer, Washington wants to force Tehran to abandon its ballistic missile programs, limit its nuclear activities and limit support for Syria's proxy militia in Lebanon and Yemen .
"We will not give in to this pressure, which is part of the psychological warfare launched against Iran," Rouhani said in a speech delivered in Khoy City, broadcast live on state television.
"They have failed to stop our oil exports. We will continue to export … Your regional policies have failed and you blame Iran for this failure of Afghanistan in Yemen and Syria, "he added, chanting" Death in America! ".
Rouhani said Washington did not have the necessary international support for its sanctions, and said it had granted temporary waivers to eight major Iranian oil buyers.
"America is isolated now. Iran is supported by many countries. Apart from the Zionist regime (Israel) and some countries in the region, no other country supports US pressure on Iran, "he said.
The European Union, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia and China, parties to the United States of the 2015 agreement lifting the sanctions imposed on Iran in exchange for a limitation of its nuclear program, are trying to find a way around US limitations.
In particular, the European Union has tried to create a special purpose vehicle for non-monetary exchanges with Iran.
But this has not stopped foreign companies ranging from oil companies and trading houses to companies leaving Iran for fear of suffering criminal penalties in the United States.
Iran has threatened to forgo the deal if its economic benefits are not preserved, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said at a press conference that he remains "optimistic that the Europeans can save the agreement ".
The SPV was conceived as a clearing house that can help reconcile Iranian oil and gas exports with the purchase of EU goods, thereby circumventing the sanctions imposed by the United States, which rely on the use of global dollar for the oil trade.
The EU wanted the SPV to be set up by this month, but no country has offered to host it, six diplomats told Reuters last week.
"We expect the EU to implement the SPV as quickly as possible," Qasemi said. "Iran is honoring its commitments as long as other signatories honor theirs".
Written by Parisa Hafezi; edited by Kevin Liffey
