Rouhani: Depriving Iran of oil sales would be very dangerous
The Iranian president, while ruling out the possibility of meeting with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, called Washington's plan to sanction the sale of Iranian oil "impracticable" and at the same time "dangerous."
On Monday, October 19, in a meeting with a group of American media executives, Hassan Rouhani emphasized that the Donald Trump administration's plan to sanction the sale of Iranian oil "is not only impractical but will also be very dangerous, and I hope we can continue trading with friendly countries within the framework of international regulations."
He emphasized that US sanctions are not only detrimental to Iran, but "have also been detrimental to international companies."
Mr. Rouhani has not provided further explanation for his remarks, calling the sanctions on Iranian oil sales "dangerous."
On July 1, the Iranian president also threatened that if Iranian oil was not to be exported, the oil of other countries should not be exported from the Persian Gulf either.
Following these remarks and other threats from Islamic Republic officials, Admiral John Richardson, the commander of US Navy operations, warned Iran that the United States would use force to maintain freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
At the same time as tensions between Iran and the United States, Yemeni Shiite rebels targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, causing Saudi Arabia to temporarily halt oil exports through the strait.
After this incident, Nasser Shabani, head of the Center for Defense and Security Studies at Imam Hussein University, made a controversial statement on August 5, saying that the Islamic Republic had asked Yemeni rebels to attack two Saudi oil tankers, and they had done so.
"The American Dream is not being interpreted"
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has also announced that "America's dream of cutting off Iranian oil exports will not be realized."
Oil prices in global markets rose about 2.5 percent on Monday to $81 per barrel, the highest in four years.
At the OPEC Supervisory Committee meeting, the US request to the Middle East Arab countries and OPEC to increase production was rejected.
Meanwhile, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, Iran's representative to OPEC, also said that contrary to Donald Trump's expectations, OPEC and its allied countries want to increase their production "partially and with a delay."
The United States reinstated the first round of its suspended sanctions against Iran on August 5th and has announced that in the next phase of sanctions, which will begin on November 4th, it will try to reduce Iranian oil sales to zero.
From the perspective of some analysts, the embargo on oil sales and banking sanctions will be the most important sanctions against Iran, an issue that some Islamic Republic officials have also acknowledged.
Meanwhile, on September 17, Iran's Supreme Economic Coordination Council approved a resolution to counter US sanctions that allows the private sector to purchase and export petroleum products from the government.
Mr. Rouhani also, in response to a question, did not consider the meeting between the US President and the North Korean leader to be comparable to a possible meeting between the presidents of Iran and the US.
Mr. Rouhani said that Donald Trump's actions, including withdrawing from the JCPOA and "sanctioning and threatening" Iran, "cannot simply be ignored."
Source: Radio Farda
